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This 5me5 o/' Scandinavian Monographs is published 
by The American-ScandiJiavian Foundation to promote 
the study of Scandinavian history and cidture^ in the 
belief that true knoivledge of the North xvill contrib- 
ute to the common profit on both sides of the Atlantic 



SCANDINAVIAN MONOGRAPHS 
VOLUME I 

THE VOYAGES OF THE NORSEMEN 
TO AMERICA 




ESTABLISHED BY NIELS POULSON 



THE 

VOYAGES OF THE NORSEMEN 

TO AMERICA 

BY 

WILLIAM HOVGAARD 

LATE COMMANDER IN THE ROYAL DANISH NAVY 

PROFESSOR OF NAVAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION IN THE 

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 

WITH EIGHTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS 
AND SEVEN MAPS 



NEW YORK 

THE AMERICAN- SCANDINAVIAN 

FOUNDATION 

1914 



COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY THE AMERICAN-SCANDINAVIAN FOUNDATION 



D. B. UPDIKE, THE MERRYMOUNT PRESS, BOSTOy, U. S. A. 

001211914 

©CI,A388029 



PREFACE 

THE original material on which our knowledge 
of the Vinland voyages is based is of very 
limited extent. Every term and sentence in the sagas 
which has any bearing on these voyages has been 
carefully examined and discussed. All evidence that 
has come to light, whether in Europe or in America, 
has been scrutinized by competent critics. It might, 
indeed, seem that the whole field had been covered, 
and that the last word on the problems involved had 
been said. I found, however, after having studied the 
more important works on the subject, that justice 
had not been done to it from the point of view of the 
navigator. When this book was planned, no work 
existed which gave a comprehensive presentation of 
the means and methods of navigation possessed by 
the Norsemen, and of the bearing of these features 
on the question of the discovery of America. Dr. 
Nansen's book, hi Northern Mists, which was pub- 
lished while the present volume was in preparation, 
dealt rather fully with this aspect of the matter, but 
did not contain any description or illustrations of the 
coasts of America likely to have been visited by the 
Norsemen. 

After having been interested in the subject for a 
long time, I decided about four years ago to study it 



vi PREFACE 

more seriously and to write an article about it, deal- 
ing especially with the navigation and allied matters. 
I soon found that, in order to make the essay useful 
to the general public, it was necessary to embody 
in it, not only an abstract of the sagas themselves, 
but also a great deal of introductory and accessory 
matter giving an insight into the history, life, and 
character of the Norsemen. Thus the article grew to 
a pamphlet. Further study showed me that even emi- 
nent authorities differed on important historical and 
geographical questions relating to the voyages. I was 
thus led to an inquiry into the controversial points, 
comprising an analysis of the saga accounts, the re- 
sult of which I decided to include in the work. This 
required the addition of several chapters, and the 
pamphlet grew to a book. 

Some may judge that I have gone beyond my ca- 
pacity as a naval man, for I have indeed trespassed 
on the territory of the historian, the ethnologist, and 
the botanist. It will perhaps be admitted, however, 
that after specialists have performed the technical 
task of bringing together and presenting the facts 
that bear on vexed questions, a verdict can well be 
given by a layman, provided it is based on a careful 
study of the available material. 

It has been my aim to place the sources of infor- 



PREFACE vii 

mation as objectively as possible before the reader, 
and to state the arguments for and against each ques- 
tion in an impartial manner. My conclusions in many 
cases take the form of alternatives, a natural conse- 
quence of the analytical treatment, but I have always 
indicated w^hat I consider as the most probable solu- 
tion. This mode of treatment has also necessitated 
many repetitions, especially of statements of the sa- 
gas, but it is believed that this drawback is more than 
compensated for by the greater facility with which 
the reader is enabled to weigh the evidence and to 
follow the arguments. 

I am indebted to Professor William H. Schofield 
for his assistance in the preparation of the volume as 
to literary form, as well as for several valuable sug- 
gestions, and to Professor Finnur Jonsson for aid in 
the interpretation of various points in the Icelandic 
text of the sagas and certain matters of history. My 
thanks are due also to Vice-Admiral C. F. Wandel, 
Chairman of the Danish Greenland Committee, for 
his permission to reproduce the numerous illustra- 
tions from Meddelelser om Grmland which appear in 

this work. 

William Hovgaard 

Boston, May, 1914 



CONTENTS 



PREFACE V 

INTRODUCTION xv 

I. ICELAND AND THE EARLY HISTORY AND LIFE OF THE 

ICELANDERS 1 

II. GREENLAND AND THE OLD NORSE SETTLEMENTS 21 

III. THE SHIPS OF THE NORSEMEN 51 

IV. THE NAVIGATION OF THE NORSEMEN 61 

V. THE ACCOUNTS OF THE VINLAND VOYAGES 75 

VI. HISTORIC VALUE OF THE ACCOUNTS CONSIDERED IN 

THEIR ENTIRETY 119 

VII. THE FLATEY BOOK VERSUS THE SAGA OF ERIC THE RED 129 

VIII. VINLAND AND ITS ATTRIBUTES 147" 

IX. ESKIMOS OR INDIANS 165 

X. DESCRIPTION OF THE COASTS OF AMERICA PROBABLY 

DISCOVERED BY THE NORSEMEN 191 

XI. GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE VINLAND VOYAGES 221 

XII. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE VOYAGES 245 

appendix: KNATTLEIKR and lacrosse 259 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 279 

INDEX 289 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Map of Iceland 1 

Ruins of the House of Eric the Red in Haukadalur^ Dala Syssel^ 

Iceland 13 

Ruins of the Farm Aslakstunga hin Innri in pjorsdrdalur 14 

Axe from the Viking- Period 17 

Map of Greenland 21 

Mouth of Agdliutsok Fiord^ Eastern Settlement 22 

Mouth of Tasermiut Fiord^ Eastern Settlement 22 

Ericsvog on Oxnb^ Hvammsford^ Iceland 25 

View from Brattahlid over Ericsford 25 

Brattahlid 27 

View of the Plain at Igaliko 27 

Map of the Plain at Igaliko 27 

-Ruins of a Farm in the Eastern Settlement 28 

Large Pen at Kakortok 28 

Ruins of the House at Brattahlid 29 

Eldhus with Fireplace in a Dwelling-House in the Eastern 

Settlement 30 

Ruins of a Church at Kakortok 31 

Beacon 32 

Spinning Stone ZS 

Perforated Piece of Soapstone 33 



xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Checker of Bone 33 

Perforated Piece of Soapstone xvith Runic Inscription 33 

Perforated Pieces of Soapstone 33 

Wooden Cross from Graveyard at Ikiguit 34 

Axe found at Ericsford 34 

Flat Soapstone xvith Ornaments 35 

The Later Runic Alphabet 35 

Runic Stone found at Kingiktorsuak 39 

Prince Albert Sound Group 46 

Eskimos from a Village on Coronation Gulf 48 

The Gokstad Ship 51 

Plate I (Lines of the Gokstad Ship~) 52 

Plate II {Midship Section of the Gokstad Ship') 53 

The Gokstad Ship 56 

Nordlandsjsegt 58 

First Page of the Grxnlendinga pattr 84 

Inscription on the ''''Yarmouth Stone^'' Nova Scotia 116 

Kringla Heimsins 118 

Map of Sigurdr Stefdnsson 118 

Koneboat 171 

Egede\s Picture of Eskimo Houses and Boats 171 

Eskimo Woman from Greenland 172 

Eskimos Carrijing Koneboat Overland 172 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii 

Montaignais Indian of Lake St. John 180 

Nascopee Indians 180 

Coast of Ba-ffin Land on Hudson Strait 191 

Fiord Scenery in Northern Labrador 191 

Map of Labrador., Neivfoiindland.^ and Nova Scotia 

(^KarlsefnVs Voyage) 193 

Coast near Cape Miigford.^ Labrador 194 

Bishop's Mitre., just South of Cape Mugford 194 

Davis Inlet 196 

Cape Harrigan off' Davis Inlet 196 

Ragged Islands., near Cape Harrison 198 

Cape Harrison 198 

Near Assixvaban River 200 

Near Hamilton Inlet 200 

Map of Sandxvich Bay on the Labrador Coast., just South 

of Hamilton Inlet 201 

Labrador Coast., not far North of the Strait of Belle Isle 203 

Strait of Belle Isle 203 

Scenery on the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland 205 

Scenery on the East Side of White Bay., Nexvfoundland 207 

Coast Scenery at Trinity Bay., Nezvfoundland 207 

Humber River., West Coast of Nexvfoundland 208 

Humber River 208 



xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Map of Sop's Ann on White Bay^ Newfoundland 210 

Robinson'' s Head^ St. George Bay., West Coast of Nexvfoundland 210 

Mouth of Middle Barachois Brook., St. George Bay 210 

Mouth of Indian Brook., HalPs Bay., Notre Dame Bay., North- 
east Coast of Nexvfoundland 212 

Coast Outside of St^ Johns., East Coast of Nexvfoundland 212 

Oakland Shore ^ East Coast of Nova Scotia 214 

Lockeport Beach., East Coast of Nova Scotia 214 

Cheboque River near Yarmouth on the Coast of Nova Scotia 216 

Surf at Great Head., Mount Desert Island., Maine 216 

Coast Scenery at Portland., Maine 218, 

East Coast of Cape Cod 220 

Coast Scenery at Osterville., Nantucket Sound ' 222 

Coast Scenery at Osterville 222 

Map of Various Hop Formations 235 

Map of North Atlantic 254 

Modern Lacrosse Stick 264 

Diagram of Lacrosse Field 266 

Stick used by the Menominee Indians., Wisconsin 269 

Stick used by the Seneca Indians., Nexv 2'ork 272 

Egede''s Picture of Greenland Eskimos Playing Ball 276 



INTRODUCTION 

THE records of the Vinland voyages as found in the 
sagas have come to us, like the sagas themselves, in 
a somewhat peculiar way. Perhaps through several genera- 
tions the original accounts were transmitted orally before 
they were finally written down. This mode of transmission 
is not unlike the reflecting of an image from mirror to mir- 
ror until it is fixed on a photographic platg. In such a process 

•t^the image gradually loses in distinctness, becomes blurred 
and distorted, and assumes new characteristics and color. 
The camera itself may be imperfect, or separate images may 
reach the same plate successively, producing a superposed 
-. and confused result, which the photographer may try to 
render intelligible by retouching. In other cases a single 
object or scene, viewed from different sides, may look so dis- 
similar that the images reaching the camera may seem to be 
of different origin. Sagas likewise, when reflected from mind 
to mind, may lose in accuracy and be changed and colored 
by the ignorance, the superstition, the carelessness, or the 

'^._ fancy of the saga-tellers. Tales of events resembling one 
another, as for instance diflferent voyages to the same place, 
may be thought to relate to one and the same event ; a pro- 
cess of merging and superposition takes place, and a writer 
is tempted to render his version more intelligible by altering 
or omitting various facts. The same event may also be seen 
differently by diflferent people, each having his own point of 
view, prejudices, and interests, and thus diverging and even 
contradictory versions may be produced . We must, therefore, 
in a critical examination of saga-records, make due allowance 
for such sources of error. 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

Great weight has been attached by some to the age of the 
sagas, and it has been presumed that the older liave greater 
historic value than the younger. This, however, appears con- 
trary to the generally accepted opinion that history cannot 
be written satisfactorily till after the lapse of one or more 
generations, not only because the records may not always be 
available immediately, but also because the true perspective 
of the events cannot be obtained till some time after their 
occurrence, and because the opinion of the contemporaneous 
historian is liable to be biased and influenced in other ways. 
Another ground on which the validity of the sagas has been 
attacked is that they contain several tales as well as isolated 
statements that are obviously based on fables or myths. This 
is a feature to be expected in records from those superstitious 
times, especially in accounts of voyages to distant lands. 
The existence of such fictions and mythical elements does 
not wholly invalidate accounts which are otherwise sober, 
objective, and realistic; in some cases they may even shroud 
a valuable and interesting truth which can be unveiled by 
research. Finally, the oral transmission to which the sagas 
were subjected has been used as a ground for attack. Yet, 
in spite of the fact that this transmission in many cases 
extended over long periods of time and took place through 
several persons, it was on the whole remarkably accurate. 
The Icelanders had extraordinary memories, which were 
often aided by compositions in verse, and the art of saga- 
telling reached an exceedingly high standard. Oral trans- 
mission did not, therefore, necessarily affect the accuracy 
of the records to any great extent. On the other hand, it 
has steadily been overlooked that at the time of the Norse 
colon}- in Greenland true believers ^vere strongly prejudiced 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

against heathens in general and in particular against heathen 
natives, who were considered as little better than animals or 
else as supernatural beings, "trolls," with whom no inter- 
course was allowed by the Church. This undoubtedly in 
some cases influenced the accounts in the sagas, and may 
have led to the suppression of important facts. 

These introductory remarks may appear to be elemen- 
tary, but they present guiding principles and views which 
it is desirable to state clearly and to emphasize at the out- 
set, since they form the basis of the following discussion 
and give the clue to the proposed solution. The little chapter 
of the world's history here treated has been the occasion of 
many books and articles , but unfortunately a great part of this 
literature is without scientific value, being of an amateurish 
or popular nature. Theories that were the product of little 
work and much fancy have in several cases attained a cer- 
tain authority, and it has taken much time and labor for his- 
torians to disprove them. The effect on the public has been, 
in general, to obscure the subject, and to create a distrust of 
the entire account of these voyages. A problem like the pres- 
ent, which touches a number of diflferent sciences — history, 
ethnography, botany, zoology, navigation, etc. — requires 
for its elucidation the cooperation of men from all these vari- 
ous fields. Of late several serious investigations have been 
made and published, that will be extensively referred to and 
discussed in this book. Still, the author believes, sufldicient 
attention has not been paid to the peculiar conditions under 
which the navigation of the Norsemen took place. For a full 
understanding of the accounts of the sagas it is necessary 
to keep in view both the shortcomings and the advantages 
under which the Norsemen labored as seamen and navi- 



xviii INTRODUCTION 

gators. The present work comprises, therefore, a study of 
the material at their disposal, and their proficiency in sea- 
manship and navigation. It is essential, moreover, to study 
carefully the geography as well as the hydrographic and 
climatic conditions of the coasts of America which the 
Norsemen are likely to have visited. We must, in particu- 
lar, try to form a mental picture of how these coasts would 
appear to the exploring navigator, their aspect as seen from 
the sea, their general character, the existence of bays and 
harbors, and their animal and plant life. The geographi- 
cal chapter is written with this object in view, and is accom- 
panied by a number of pictures showing the appearance of 
the coasts and fiords. These pictures form a most impor- 
tant supplement to the description, being a feature which, 
to the author's knowledge, has not been embodied in any 
previous volume. 

After the accounts of the Vinland voyages had been al- 
most forgotten for several hundred years, they were again 
brought to light at the beginning of the seventeenth century. 
General attention was not, however, drawn to the discover- 
ies of the Norsemen till Torfasus published his book on Vin- 
land in 1705.* When, in 1837, Rafn's Antiquitates Amen- 
canx appeared, it was the most complete work on the sub- 
ject, and the first to contain in print the complete text of the 
sagas relating to the discoveries. Torfasus and Rafn, as well 
as other writers during this period, based their accounts 
on the version found in the so-called Flateij Book, where it 
occurs under the name of Grseniemlinga pattr. The authority 
of this version stood unchallenged until Dr. Gudbrand Vig- 
fusson, and later Dr. Gustav Storm, took up the matter and 

* Historia Vinlandiee Antiquee, Copenliagen, 1705. 



INTRODUCTION xix 

gave as their opinion that another version, presumably older, 
contained in the Saga of Eric the Red (often erroneously 
referred to as Thorfinn K arise f nV s Saga)^ v^^as more logical 
and reliable than the Grsenlendinga pdttr. Dr. Storm even 
maintained that this latter version was entirely untrust- 
worthy, and his opinion has since been generally accepted 
by historians. Thus it came about that the version in the 
Flatey Book^ which formerly had such a high reputation, has 
of late been discredited. Recently, another great authority, 
Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, has stated as his opinion that both the 
aforesaid accounts are unhistoric and little better than real- 
istic novels. 

We shall here attempt to show that such sweeping con- 
clusions are not justified in the present case, and that both 
accounts, in spite of their obvious shortcomings, may prob- 
ably be considered as essentially historic and essentially of 
equal value. This statement refers in particular to the de- 
scription of the voyages, considered apart from the frame- 
work of names, genealogy, and chronology into which they 
are set. In order that the reader may be able to form an 
opinion of the historic value of the saga accounts, and of the 
relative weight which should be given to their evidence, he 
should be acquainted with the economic conditions and the 
political events which led to the settlement of Iceland and 
Greenland, and finally, as an almost unavoidable sequel, to 
the discovery of the American continent. He will then real- 
ize that this event was a natural, although an extreme, link 
in the expansive, westward movement of the Scandinavian 
peoples. He should, moreover, be acquainted with the char- 
acter of the Norsemen, their life and institutions, and with 
the geographical and climatic conditions of Iceland and 



XX INTRODUCTION 

Greenland, whence these expeditions set forth. In the chap- 
ters on Iceland and Greenland a brief synopsis is, there- 
fore, given of these subjects, comprising a description of the 
houses, implements, and mode of living of the Norsemen, 
which will be of particular interest to those who may search 
for or investigate possible traces left by these early explorers 
on the coasts of America. The plans of houses and the pic- 
tures of implements and utensils- from the old Norse colony 
in Greenland, which accompany Chapter 11, are given with 
this particular object in view. 

The chapters containing the geographical analysis and 
the reconstruction of the voyages form in a sense the con- 
clusion and summary of all the foregoing chapters. It is 
shown that in all probability the voyages of Leif and Thor- 
vald, as described in the Grxnlendinga pdttr^ extended much 
farther south than the expedition of Karlsefni, described 
most fully in the Saga of Eric the Red. By an intermin- 
gling of the two main accounts has arisen the confusion that 
has caused so much difficulty to students of this problem. 

A comparison between the old Norse game knattleikr and 
the Canadian game lacrosse is reserved for the Appendix, 
because the result of this discussion has no bearing on the 
details of the geographical and historical analysis of the 
voyages. 

The generic term ' 'Norsemen" is here used to mean either 
Greenland ers, Icelanders, or Norwegians, wherever it is not 
desired to specify the nationality of these peoples. The term 
' ' Vinland ' ' is used in preference to the more common 
term "Wineland," because the latter implies a precise 
meaning of the word Vm^ and a feature of the land which 
it is not desirable to assume at the start. 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

The following abbreviations will frequently be found : 
Gp: Grselendinga pdttr (Tale of the Greenlanders) ; ER: 
Eireks Saga Rauda (Saga of Eric the Red) ; E'B: Flatey 
Book; GHM: Grdnlands Historiske Mindesmserker ; M G : 
Meddelelser om Gronland ; AM : Amamagusean Collection. 



. CHAPTER I 

ICELAND AND THE EARLY HISTORY AND LIFE 
OF THE ICELANDERS 

ICELAND extends from about lat. 63° to the Arctic 
Circle and is a roundish island about one-fourth greater 
than Ireland. Its interior consists mainly of a high plateau 
of barren volcanic masses, such as tufa, trap, and basalt, 
covered by large glaciers. Volcanoes and hot springs are 
numerous on the island, and earthquakes and ash-falls are 
not uncommon. From the large glaciers and lakes flow great 
rivers in all directions. In the southwestern part of the coun- 
try is found an extensive lowland between Reykjaness 
and Eyjafjallajokul, and on the west coast is found an- 
other less extensive lowland at Borgarfiord. The contour 
of Iceland, save in the south, is diversified by deep fiords, 
often separated by bold headlands and continued inland in 
long valleys. The south and west coasts are under the influ- 
ence of the Gulf Stream, and have, therefore, a mild insular 
climate and ice-free harbors. The east and north coasts, 
which are exposed to the ice-laden Arctic current, have a 
much harsher climate. 

At the time of the settlement there were in many of the 
valleys large forests of scrub birch, which were later for the 
most part destroyed. On the lowlands were found good 
pastures, and the cattle could go out all the year and graze. 
On the higher ground there was good grass for the sheep. 
The sea abounded in many kinds of fish and whales, and 
the rivers in salmon. Birds were numerous. 

For several hundred years the Scandinavian peoples 
exhibited a remarkable power of expansion, causing a 



2 THE VOYAGES OF 

movement which was at its height from about the year 800 
till near the middle of the eleventh century, the so-called 
Viking Period. This movement had a gradual development. 
It extended both east and west, and probably commenced 
several centuries before the Viking Period proper. Prior to 
the eighth century it was apparently confined to the Bal- 
tic, but from that time we begin to hear about vikings in 
western Europe. At first they sailed, chiefly from southern 
Jutland, along the Frisian coast of the North Sea, gradu- 
ally extending their expeditions to France and England. 
Soon they ventured directly across the North Sea from Jut- 
land and Norway to the coasts of England and Scodand, 
to the Scottish Isles, and thence to Ireland. Finally, the 
cruises were extended along the Atlantic coasts of France 
and Spain and into the Mediterranean. 

In the time of Charlemagne we hear of the depredations 
of vikings on the coasts of Frisia and France. The em- 
peror made great efforts to defend the coasts, and even en- 
trusted a Danish chieftain with the coast defence of Frisia. 
After the death of Charlemagne, however, there Avas no 
strong central government on the Continent capable of act- 
ing vigorously against the intruders. The Prankish empire 
was weak, owing to internal strife, and similar conditions 
existed in England, where the Anglo-Saxon kings were 
unable to repel the attacks of the Danes. 

The viking ships often operated singly or in small num- 
bers, but sometimes they combined under prominent chief- 
tains or princes to form veritable fleets, carrying hundreds 
of warriors. The advanced shipbuilding and seamanship 
of the Scandinavians secured to them an uncontested mari- 
time superiority. This enabled them with impunity to 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 3 

descend unexpectedly anywhere on the coasts, which were 
naturally very difficult to defend. The simplest and perhaps 
the only way in which the attacks of the vikings could have 
been effectively checked, was by meeting them on the sea, 
but no serious attempt was made in that direction. 

The vikings commenced by looting the coasts of the rich 
western countries in occasional raids. At first these raids 
took place only in summer, but soon the invaders, having 
seized upon some base on the coast, commenced to winter in 
the country, and finally, when the resistance of the inhabit- 
ants was broken, they settled there, dividing the soil be- 
tween them, and acting as masters and conquerors. They 
not only harried the coasts, but penetrated far up the rivers 
to the wealthy cities in the interior of England, France, 
and Germany. In many cases Scandinavians entered the 
service of foreign princes, and took over the defence of their 
lands against other vikings. In this way whole armies of 
Scandinavians were organized both in England and France, 
some fighting on the side of the native inhabitants and 
some fighting against them. The conquerors, however, soon 
yielded to the more advanced civilization with which they 
came in contact. They adopted the Christian faith, and 
after a few generations they assimilated with the more nu- 
merous native population, by whom they were ultimately 
absorbed. 

The Scandinavians were not content to settle in the rich, 
densely populated countries; they also went to colonize 
poorer and more sparsely settled lands, such as the Faroes 
and the Scottish Isles ; and their enterprising spirit car- 
ried them even to new, largely unexplored and uninhabited 
places like Iceland and Greenland. Especially to Iceland 



4 THE VOYAGES OF 

a large stream of emigration took its course, and, once set- 
tled on this island, the Scandinavians — in this case Norwe- 
gians, or Norsemen, as we shall here call them — were little 
subject to amalgamation with foreign nationalities. They 
preserved not only their own characteristics, their traditions, 
customs, and laws, but also their language. In this way 
Iceland, together with the Faroes, came to form a lasting 
addition to the Scandinavian soil, implying an actual ex- 
pansion of the pure Norse population. 

The deeper cause of this great movement can only be con- 
jectured, but it is generally assumed that one of the princi- 
pal factors was overpopulation. It seems likely, indeed, that 
this condition would persist where the people, as in Scan- 
dinavia at that time, were vigorous and healthy, and where 
warlike occupations were so highly esteemed that the peace- 
ful pursuit of cultivating the soil may have been more or less 
neglected. The viking expeditions provided a natural outlet 
for the surplus population. Many persons settled abroad, 
many died, and those who returned often brought home rich 
booty, which helped to relieve the economic pressure. The 
warlike spirit of the Scandinavians, their love of adventure, 
and the easy access to wealth which presented itself by har- 
rying the rich western countries of Europe acted as mighty 
stimulants to renewed eiforts. Piratical expeditions became 
a regular institution, a permanent feature in the life of the 
people. 

Finally, the Scandinavian countries were brought under 
the rule of kings, and they consolidated their power by grad- 
ually destroying the privileges and independence of the nu- 
merous chieftains who before that time had ruled practi- 
cally as petty kings, each in his own district. This process 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 5 

of unification necessarily met with bitter opposition from 
the chieftains. Many of them were banished from the coun- 
try, while others preferred to leave their homes voluntarily, 
rather than submit to over lordship, and above all to the pay- 
ment of taxes, which they considered as a sign of humiliat- 
ing dependence. Thus the internal political conditions gave 
a great impetus to emigration. 

It appears that the settlement of Iceland in particular may 
be explained largely as a consequence of the political and so- 
cial conditions in Norway during the ninth century, when 
that country became grouped in larger and larger political 
units, ending in the complete consolidation under one king, 
Harald Fairhair, in the year 872. In Grettir' s Saga we read: 
"There were then many great men who had fled from 
Norway westward over the sea, for King Harald outlawed 
all who had fought against him and took possession of their 
estates. ' ' And Snorri wrote : "During the war period, while 
King Harald tried to make himself master of the whole 
of Norway, lands were found and settled far away in the 
ocean, the Faroes and Iceland. Many people also went to 
Hjaltland [the Shetlands] , and many chieftains fled as out- 
laws from King Harald, and went on viking expeditions to 
the western countries [in Festet-oiking] ; during the winter 
they were in the Orkneys or Hebrides [Suder Isles, Sodor] , 
but during the summer they harried in Norway and did 
great damage." 

The depredations on Norway here mentioned became 
so destructive that King Harald at last found it necessary 
to undertake a great punitive expedition. On this journey, 
which extended as far as the Isle of Man, Harald com- 
pletely broke the power of the vikings settled in the Scottish 



6 THE VOYAGES OF 

Isles, and subdued these regions to the crown of Norway, 
under which they remained for several hundred years. 

The vikings, thus driven away from the Scottish Isles, 
now went in great numbers to Iceland, and were appar- 
ently joined by many Norse chieftains who were then living 
in Scotland and Ireland. The settlement of Iceland took 
place between the years 874 and 930, the so-called "Land- 
nama-Time" (the Time of Land-takings or Settlements), 
and the various families and their settlements are described 
in the Landndma Book^ written about the year 1200. This 
book, which is a very remarkable historical document, men- 
tions four thousand homesteads scattered around the coasts 
and valleys of the island. At the end of the Landnama- 
Time there were nearly four hundred chieftains in Iceland, 
each with his tenants and thralls, and their families. The 
total population was then probably about 20,000, but by 
the census taken in the year 1100 it was found to be about 
50,000, the settlers being apparently very prolific. 

While the chieftains and the freemen were mostly Norse, 
there were among the thralls a great number of Irish, 
Scotch, Germans, and other foreigners, who had been taken 
prisoners on the viking expeditions. Settlements were made 
all around the coasts of Iceland in the fiord valleys, but the 
most important grew up on the lowlands in the southwestern 
and western parts, and there was centred the historic life of 
the island. The most prominent and wealthy of the early set- 
tlers became the religious as well as the temporal leaders of 
their respective communities. Each chieftain presided at the 
court {thi?ig)^ and maintained the peace, in his neighbor- 
hood; he also performed the religious ceremonies at the tem- 
ple {hqf) in his capacity as priest (godi), and thus each dis- 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 7 

trict became, as had been the case formerly in Norway, a 
small independent state, self-contained in its administration 
and religion. The frequent lawsuits and feuds that arose 
between the different chieftains and their communities soon 
made it necessary to organize into larger units with com- 
mon laws, and finally, in 927, the Althing, common for the 
whole island, was established. The Althing stood above 
the local courts and comprised also the legislative body 
{logretta)^ which controlled all laws and licenses, and was 
the supreme power in the land. The Althing held its sessions 
once a year at Thingvellir, in the southwestern part of the 
island. Here the chieftains met, accompanied by their fol- 
lowers, in order to settle lawsuits and determine legislation. 
Permanent laws were adopted and gradually became 
very particularized and detailed. The important function of 
proclaiming the laws to the assembled people from the 
Lawhill (Idgbergi) was assigned to a certain man, who was 
also president of the legislative body, and was called the 
law-speaker {logsogumadr) . At that time, before the laws 
had yet been written down, the law-speaker had to "say" 
the law from memory. The punishments for breaches of the 
peace and for other offences were often very severe ; they 
might consist in banishment from the district or from the 
M^hole island for a certain length of time or for life. The 
offender might be made an outlaw, "not to be fed, not to 
be forwarded, not to be helped or harbored in any need." 
Any one had a right to kill him, and all his goods were for- 
feited. Most frequently differences were settled by money 
taken in compensation, but often duels were fought to decide 
the issue. Unless some legal settlement were reached, the 
Icelander would consider it as his duty to avenge the wrong 



8 THE VOYAGES OF 

or injury done to him or his family. Sometimes he refused 
to accept a fine as atonement for manslaughter of near rela- 
tives, whereupon bloody feuds ensued, which lasted many 
years. In these feuds incredible perseverance, energy, and 
courage were often exhibited in order to fulfil the sacred 
duty of revenge. 

With the establishment of the Althing Iceland virtually 
became an aristocratic republic, and existed as such for more 
than three hundred years. 

The first period after the settlement up to about the year 
1030 has been called the Heroic Age. It was during this 
time, as explained above, that the political and judicial or- 
ganization of Iceland was accomplished, and then Chris- 
tian ideals commenced to find their way to the people. Hence 
it was a period of strong fermentation and development, 
full of unrest : family feuds, duels, lawsuits at home, and 
viking expeditions abroad. It was not, however, a period of 
anarchy, as might be inferred from a superficial reading of 
the records. The sagas describe primarily stirring events, 
and only a more careful study reveals to us the normal, quiet 
state of life, and brings out the Icelander's innate love of 
right and justice, and his fundamentally law-abiding spirit. 

Christianity was formally introduced in the year 1000, 
and the first bishop was consecrated in 1056 under the Arch- 
bishop of Bremen ; but later both Iceland and Greenland 
were placed under the Archbishop of Lund, and in 1152 
they came under the newly erected archiepiscopal see at Ni- 
daros (Trondhjem). At first the Church had no independent 
legislative or judiciary power, and exerted but little influ- 
ence on the life and habits of the Icelanders. If the chief- 
tains did not themselves act as priests, they at least nomi- 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 9 

nated the priests, and the churches which had taken the 
place of the temples belonged to their estates. The end of the 
eleventh and the beginning of the twelfth century was the 
most quiet and peaceful period in the history of Iceland. It 
was then that saga-telling became fully developed, dealing 
with the heroic deeds of the previous generations, and the 
foundation was laid for the rich literature which soon com- 
menced to be written down. 

In the course of the twelfth century, and especially after 
Iceland had come under the Archbishop of Nidaros, the 
increasing claims of the Church to greater power and in- 
dependence called forth bitter strife, and at the same time 
serious feuds arose among the leading families. Gradually 
the wealth and the }X)litical power of the island became con- 
centrated in the hands of a few leaders, who were able 
to muster real armies of a thousand men or more. Hence 
arose a devastating era of warfare, the so-called " Stur- 
lunga Period," in which, at the beginning, the priests also 
took part. So far Christianity had been unable to modify 
perceptibly the heathen code of honor and morals, which 
carried with it so much strife and bloodshed. During the 
thirteenth century the Church attained greater autonomy, 
and the bishops were made entirely independent of the 
chieftains and their disputes. Meanwhile, the warfare be- 
tween the chieftains assumed greater and greater propor- 
tions, and the King of Norway, who was desirous of add- 
ing Iceland to his dominions, obtained ample opportunity 
for interference. Steadily the wealth and political power of 
the republic wxre undermined ; the King of Norway ac- 
quired more and more influence, and in 1262 Iceland came 
under his sway. 



10 THE VOYAGES OF 

In consequence of this long period of war, the vigor of 
the nation had decHned, and now followed a series of dis- 
asters during the next hundred years, from the end of the 
thirteenth to the end of the fourteenth century. Pestilen- 
tial diseases of cattle, earthquakes, ash-falls, plagues, and 
famine followed one after another, and finally, in 1402-04, 
the bubonic plague visited the island. Then Iceland entered 
a period of exhaustion, debility, and poverty, that formed 
a marked contrast to the brilliant state of former days. 

We shall now go back to the early days of the colony and 
consider the development of its intellectual life and the 
character of its large body of literature, which reached per- 
haps a higher standard than was attained anywhere else in 
mediaeval Europe. 

During the first century or two after the settlement no 
schools were found in Iceland, but young men of good fam- 
ily were generally sent abroad to be educated and to acquire 
knowledge of the world. About the beginning of the twelfth 
century schools were established at the episcopal sees, and 
the cloisters became centres of learning. Soon Iceland had 
a considerable group of scholars, some of whom wrote in 
the native language. Icelandic literature is partly poetical 
and mythical, partly historical, but it is particularly the 
latter, the so-called saga literature, with which we are here 
concerned. 

At the beginning of the twelfth century a priest, Ari 
J>orgilsson, usually referred to as Ari Frode {ennfrbdi^ " the 
wise"), wrote his IslendingaBook^ and, according to some, 
was also one of the first authors of the Landnama Book. The 
old lawbook, the Grdgds, was written in 1117. Saga-writ- 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 11 

ing was at its height about the year 1200. The sagas, even 
the historical ones, were essentially biographies, whether of 
kings, chieftains, or prominent families, the historical, politi- 
cal, or personal events being related largely as incidents in 
the life of each person whose ' ' saga ' ' was given . 

Sometimes these sagas were not written down till several 
hundred years after the occurrence of the events which they 
relate, but they give the names and genealogies of numer- 
ous men and women, and describe scenes with such mi- 
nuteness and detail as to leave little doubt in the mind of 
the reader as to their essential truth and accuracy. 

The sagas are composed in a simple, terse style, avoid- 
ing all attempts at adornment, yet presenting to us in a 
remarkably vivid manner the actors, their characters, and 
their deeds. They bear no trace of sentimentalism or striving 
for effect. A realistic description of facts, often comprising 
minute and apparently insignificant details, brings clearly 
before the mind of the reader, in a few sentences, the feel- 
ings and actions of the participants. 

The authors of most sagas of families and prominent men 
are unknown, and in some cases it can only be conjec- 
tured in what part of the island they originated. Certain 
sagas, however, of more general historic interest were com- 
posed by celebrated men. Iceland's greatest writer was 
Snorri Sturluson, whose most important books are the Eclda 
and the Heimskringla. The former deals with ancient myths 
and poems. The latter gives the history of Norway from 
the earliest times to 1177, and is one of the most remark- 
able historical productions of the world. The sagas that tell 
of the Vinland voyages will be fully dealt with in later chap- 
ters. After the year 1300 Icelandic literature shared in the 



12 THE VOYAGES OF 

general decline, and no great or original works were created, 
but the copying and collecting of existing sagas were con- 
tinued with great industry. In Norway, however, a highly 
interesting book, the Khig''s Mirror^ was produced in the 
thirteenth century ; it gives an insight into the social condi- 
tions, the geographical knowledge, etc., of that time. 

Like their kinsmen in Norway and Ireland, the Iceland- 
ers were great merchants. The physical conditions of the is- 
land necessitated a lively trade with other countries, from 
which they obtained necessities of life, such as grain and 
timber, besides weapons, coins, and many luxuries. As a 
consequence of this trade, and also because the Icelanders 
took an active part in sea-roving expeditions during the 
Viking Period, they were in constant communication with 
foreign countries and much influenced by the civilization of 
western Europe. 

Seafaring served to maintain among the Icelanders the 
peculiar aptitude of the Norsemen as sailors and navigators. 
The viking life, as well as the numerous feuds in Iceland 
and the fact that many Icelanders took military service in 
Europe, especially in the bodyguards of certain princes, 
kept up the military spirit. Hence, about the year 1000 and 
in the period immediately following, when the CAcnts took 
place with which we are here concerned, Ave find in Ice- 
land a nation teeming with physical and mental energy, 
possessing in a high degree the qualities of sailors, navi- 
gators, and fighters, well fitted for exploration and coloni- 
zation. 

Every great farm or estate in Iceland formed a fairly in- 
dependent economic unit. The population consisted of free- 
men and thralls, but while the freemen performed the more 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 13 

skilled labor and the thralls did the rougher kind of work, 
there appears otherwise to have been little division of labor 
or specialization. Each freeman might be a farmer, smith, 
merchant, fisherman, carpenter, etc. The thralls would grind 
the mill, spread the manure, perhaps milk the cows. The 
women baked, brewed, wove, and the like. The houses were 
built chiefly of sod, which ensured warmth. In the founda- 



I 



.^^1M#^^^ 






Ruins of the House of Eric the Red 
in Haukadalur^ Dala Syssel^ Iceland 

By courtesy of Capt. D. Bruun 

tion of the walls stones were laid, with sod interposed. Wood 
was used more sparingly, and entered chiefly into the con- 
struction and support of the roof and in the gables. The 
sod walls were from five to six feet thick and, generally, 
only about five feet high. 

An Icelandic farm* was made up of a number of build- 
ings scattered over the home enclosure {tun). The dwell- 
ing-houses were built near together, comprising ordinarily 
at least one house {stofa) where the meals were eaten and 
which also served as living-room, one house {eldhus) which 
served as kitchen and bedroom, and one provision store- 
house and pantry {bur, or matbur). Later, particularly in 
larger farms, the bedroom was separated from the kitchen, 
and a separate house {skdli) was built, which served as 

*See Valtyr GuSmvmdsson, Prvvatboligen paa Island i Sagatiden. 



14 



THE VOYAGES OF 



sleeping-room for the whole household. Often a bathroom 
[babsiofa) and a separate house for the women {dyngja) 
were added to the group of buildings formed by the dwell- 
ing-houses. Near by were found a smithy and storehouse for 




Ruins of the Farm Aslakstunga h'ln Innri in pjbrsardalur 

A, Lkvellin g- House ; B, Cmv-Barn ; C, Storehouse. These ruins date 
from a period not later than the beginning of the fourteenth century 

By courtesy of Capt. D. Bruun 

the winter provisions {skemma, or uUhur). Scattered over the 
tun., at smaller or greater distances from the dwelling-house, 
were the cow-barn {fjos)., the stable {hesthus)., the houses for 
the sheep and goats, and the hay-barns. In the outlying part 
of the tmi were pens for milking the cattle. 

The house that served as living and dining room con- 
tained one large hall, generally of rectangular form. Tw^o 
rows of w^ooden posts to carry the roof divided the hall 
lengthwise into three parts. The floor of the middle portion 
was about a foot lower than that of the side portions, and 
was covered with clay ; here were placed a series of fires 
{iongeido?-), surrounded by flat stones placed on edge. The 
smoke escaped through holes or louAres in the roof, which 
openings also served for the admission of light. The raised 
floor along the walls was often lined with planks. On it 
benches were placed, with tables in front of them. A high 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 15 

seat (ondvegt) on one side was reserved for the chieftain who 
owned the house, and by it stood sacred pillars. A high 
seat on the other side was for the most honored guest. In 
large houses there was a dais at the end of the hall with 
cross benches for the women. 

The fireplaces were of different types, but always open. 
The /angeidar are found in most of the ruins from the Mid- 
dle Ages. They consisted either of flat stones, which covered 
the floor, or else the fire was built directly on the floor. Some- 
times the bottom of the fireplace was formed as a shallow 
pit. In certain langeldar, or close to them, has been found 
a small box-shaped hole, lined with stones for preserving a 
smouldering fire during the night. In some cases fire-pits 
were placed near the walls. The fireplace in the kitchen was 
often raised from the floor, and was built of large stones. 

Captain Daniel Bruun* has advanced the opinion that 
the segmental pits filled with ashes, charcoal, and stones, 
found in the ruins of temples and in the booths of trading 
stations, etc., in Iceland, were fireplaces used for preparing 
food. These fireplaces were particularly suited for temporary 
use, where a great number of men were gathered together 
and had to be fed at once, as at religious feasts and at trad- 
ing-posts during summer. Meat and bread were baked in 
the ashes or on heated stones placed in the pit. They were 
first wrapped in leaves and placed on the hot stones; other 
hot stones were then laid on top of them ; and the whole 
was covered with sod, ashes, or leaves, to hold the heat. 
This method of preparing food was generally used all over 

* Ka/itain Daniel Bruun og Professor Finnur Jonssons Undersogelser og 
Udgravninger fiaa Island, 1907-1909 {Geograjisk Tidsskrift) , Copenha- 
gen, 1910. 



16 THE VOYAGES OF 

the North and probably elsewhere under earlier, primitive 
conditions, and is here of considerable interest. If such pits 
should be found on the coasts of America likely to have been 
visited by the Norsemen, they might be considered as evi- 
dence of such visits, and further investigations should be 
made on the spot. 

Clothing was chiefly of frieze, dyed or undyed. Imported 
stuffs of silk and cotton or red wool were used only by 
the rich. Great care was bestowed on the hair, which was 
worn long by both sexes; only thralls had to cut their hair 
short. 

The women were socially on an equality with the men, 
and had extensive property rights. Young maidens were 
highly respected and associated freely with young men, but 
had to guard their reputations very carefully. Breach of 
promise was in heathen times punished very severely, 
whether with men or women. Marriage was essentially 
a civil contract, and was generally arranged chiefly with 
regard to the social and economic standing of the bride 
and bridegroom and of their families. Ordinarily it was 
not allowed unless the parties together possessed sufficient 
means to live in reasonable comfort. The sagas give nu- 
merous instances of difficulties arising from these customs. 
The Icelandic wife was highly honored, and her counsel car- 
ried weight, but she often had to submit to her husband 
maintaining illegitimate relations with other Avomen of the 
household. 

Song, music, and saga-telling formed an important part 
of the entertainment of the Icelanders, but of all pastimes, it 
appears, athletic sports and games occupied the most prom- 
inent place. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 17 

It was customary for the men, except when working on 
the farm, always to carry arms. The commonest weapons 
were the axe, the sword, and the spear, although bows and 
arrows were often used. The axe seems to have been almost 




Axe from the Viking Period 

the national weapon. For defence a helmet and shield were 
worn, but these were not ordinarily carried about. 

The moral code or precepts of the Norsemen, as apparent 
from the old Eddie poem Hdvamdl^ maintained as the prin- 
cipal virtues, bravery and endurance, kindness, hospitality, 
and generosity to others, faithfulness to the given word or 
oath, fidelity in friendship or love, respect for old age, 
and care for the bodies of the dead . This code fostered cau- 
tion in establishing new connections, and, in fact, caution 
in all words and deeds. Suspicion of those who were not 
known to be one's friends was common, but an unavoid- 
able result of the state of unrest, strife, and feuds in which 
people then lived. The sagas, however, tell of many cases 
where help and protection were given under dangerous cir- 
cumstances to strangers in distress. Although wealth was 
much esteemed and sought after, freedom and a good name 
in life, but particularly after death, were valued as the high- 
est prize. 

The Icelanders were jealous of their rights, pugnacious, 
and often passionate in temper, which qualities frequently 



18 THE VOYAGES OF 

led to quarrels, involving manslaughter and prolonged 
feuds. As already stated, the code of honor imposed as a sa- 
cred duty revenge for the killing of relatives or near friends, 
and no injury or insult could be left unatoned. On the 
other hand, the Icelanders possessed in a marked degree a 
sense of law and justice which found its expression in their 
highly organized judiciary system. In fact, their vindictive- 
ness was largely based on their sense of justice and honor. 

Their conception of the ideal man is reflected in the fol- 
lowing description of Gunnar of Lithend from the Story of 
Burnt Njal: * 

"He was a tall man in growth, and a strong man — best 
skilled in arms of all men. He could cut or thrust or shoot 
if he chose as well with his left as with his right hand, and 
he smote so swiftly m' ith his sword that three seemed to flash 
through the air at once. He was the best shot with the bow 
of all men, and never missed his mark. He could leap more 
than his own height, with all his war-gear, and as far back- 
wards as forwards. He could swim like a seal, and there 
was no game in which it was any good for anv one to strive 
with him ; and so it has been said that no man was his 
match. He was handsome of feature, and fair-skinned. His 
nose was straight, and a little turned up at the end. He was 
blue-eyed and bright-eyed, and ruddy-cheeked. His hair 
thick, and of good hue, and hanging down in comely curls. 
The most courteous of men was he, of sturdy frame and 
strong will, bountiful and gentle, a fast friend, but hard to 
please when making them. He was wealthv in goods." 

The high esteem of the Icelanders for wisdom and good- 
ness is revealed in the description of Njal in the same saga : 

*Trans. G. W. Dasent, Edinburgh, 1861, I, 60, 61. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 19 

"Njal was wealthy of goods, and handsome of face; no 
beard grew on his chin. He was so great a lawyer, that his 
match was not to be found. Wise too he was, and fore- 
knowing and foresighted. Of good counsel, and ready to 
give it, and all that he advised men was sure to be the best 
for them to do. Gentle and generous, he unravelled every 
man's knotty points who came to see him about them." 



G 



CHAPTER II 

GREENLAND AND THE OLD NORSE SETTLEMENTS 

REENLx\ND extends from the Arctic rearions south 



^fc)^ 



to Cape Farewell, which lies in lat. 60° N., the same 
as Kristiania. 

The east coast is washed by the East-Greenland or Polar 
current, which carries with it huge masses of heavy ocean 
ice, the so-called East Pack, from twenty to thirty feet thick, 
accompanied by numerous icebergs. This current turns 
round Cape Farewell and sets first west and then northwest 
up along the west coast of Greenland; but above lat. 63° 
to 64° it swings to the west and joins the Labrador current, 
to be mentioned below. A weaker branch of the Polar cur- 
rent seems, however, to continue north along the coast be- 
yond lat. 64° . The speed of the Polar current is from fifteen 
to twenty miles a day round Cape Farewell, but off Godt- 
haab, in about lat. 64°, only from three to four miles a day. 
It is not felt more than from forty to sixty miles offshore 
on the west coast. North of lat. 66° ships are set westward. 

In Julianehaab Bay, where the old Norse Eastern Settle- 
ment was found, and up to Frederikshaab, icebergs from 
East-Greenland are so numerous that seven hundred may 
be counted from one spot, and they may be met as far as 
the latitude of Godthaab, where the old Western Settlement 
was found. Beyond Godthaab the coast is fairly free of ice- 
bergs until north of Holstensborg in lat. 67°, where we en- 
ter the northern districts for icebergs. These icebergs come 
from North-Greenland, and when, on their drift southward, 
they reach near lat. 67° they pass across Baffin Bay. The 
Vaigat inside Disko Island is densely covered with ice- 



22 THE VOYAGES OF 

bergs, and a bank of them is formed oif Jakobshavn in Disko 
Bay. 

On the west side of Davis Strait we find the south-bound 
Labrador current, which is filled with the so-called West 
Pack, consisting of screwed and broken sea-ice, likewise 
accompanied by icebergs. These are due chiefly to the 
glaciers on the western coast of North-Greenland, but are 
probably in some measure derived from the East-Greenland 
current. In the summer the West Pack is from forty to 
sixty miles off the west coast of Greenland. 

Besides the East-Greenland and the Labrador currents, 
a warm Atlantic current flows northward into Davis Strait, 
trying to fight, as it were, the East-Greenland current. It 
is generally traceable by the existence of warm water further 
out at sea in the Davis Strait, but occasionally it may reach 
the coast and displace the Polar current, melting the rim 
of ice, the so-called "ice-foot," which forms along the shore 
of the Greenland coast. 

The East-Greenland current carries driftwood from the 
Siberian rivers, or possibly from the most western of the 
North American rivers, and deposits it along the coast up 
to Holstensborg, but no farther north. Also the warm At- 
lantic current may at times carry with it smaller quantities 
of driftwood. 

It follows from these conditions that the east coast of 
Greenland is blocked by ice the greater part of the year. The 
East Pack makes its appearance west of Cape Farewell in 
January or the beginning of February, but the principal 
masses come in April or later. From that time the ice lies 
generally more or less tightly packed round Cape Farewell, 
oflf Julianehaab, and off" the adjacent parts of the west coast, 





Month of Agdliutsok Fiord^ Eastern Settlement 

By courtesy of M. Clemmensen 




Month of Tasermiut Fiord^ Eastern Settlement 

By courtesy of Justitsraad F. Froda, Photograph by A. H. Jessen 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 23 

until September, but for the last three months of the year 
the Cape is usually free from ice. OflF Julianehaab the ice 
may extend to about one hundred and twenty miles from 
land. It usually drifts up along the west coast as high as 
lat. 63°, where it begins to swing westward, but may be 
found as high as lat. 66°. 

The navigation on Julianehaab Bay is difficult and dan- 
gerous. Ships bound thither from Europe should steer past 
Cape Farewell and follow the boundary of the ice westward, 
at least as far as Cape Desolation, before they attempt to 
steer towards land. The farther up the coast a vessel makes 
land, the easier it is for it to find a passage through the ice. 
Just west of Cape Desolation, however, where the direc- 
tion of the Polar current changes rather abruptly from west 
to northwest, a local spreading-out of the ice takes place, 
which, often permits ships to pass through at that point. 

If we take Cape Desolation to be the former Hvarf , we 
can thus understand the old sailing directions, which seem 
to recommend that ships should steer past, or at least up 
to, Hvarf before trying to make land. In the King's Mirror 
we read : ' ' Everybody who \\'ishes to reach the land should 
sail round it towards the southwest and west, until he has 
passed all the places where ice may be expected, and then 
he should make directly for land. But it has frequently hap- 
pened that mariners have tried to make land too early, and 
have, therefore, been caught in the ice. Some of these people 
perished, others escaped ; of these latter we have met some, 
and heard their tales. All of those who came into this drift 
ice dragged their small boats up on the ice and thus tried 
to reach land, but the ship with all the goods remained 

*GHM, III, 316. 



24 THE VOYAGES OF 

behind and was lost. Some had to spend four or five days 
on the ice before they reached land, some even longer." 

Before leaving the description of the seas surrounding 
Greenland, we should consider a natural phenomenon, the 
so-called haj'gerdingar, which is described in x\\e King^ s Mir- 
ror^ and also mentioned in iMudndma in connection with 
Herjulf's voyage to Greenland. Herjulf's ship, it appears, 
was surrounded by hafgerdingar^ and a poem, Hafgerd'inga 
Drdpa, was composed about the event. According to the 
somewhat vague account in the Iiing''s Mirror^ '"''hafger- 
dingar look as if all the storm-waves of the sea were gath- 
ered together in three continuous combers ; the three a'v ave- 
crests surround the whole sea in such a way that there is 
no escape [opening] ; they are higher than big mountains 
and as steep as precipices, so that in but few cases have 
people escaped from the sea when this has occurred." 

It may be conjectured that hafgerbmgar were a phe- 
nomenon similar to what is now given the name of tidal 
waves, probably, in most cases, a misnomer for earthquake 
waves. In modern sailing directions we find a notice that in 
the vicinity of long. 28°-32° W. and lat. 60° N., that is, 
nearly midway between Cape Reykjaness and Cape Fare- 
well, but somewhat to the south of the line bet\\'een these 
points, the sea is said to break very strongl}^, and it is be- 
lieved that submerged skerries or else volcanic forces are 
the cause. Earthquakes, which are reported to have occurred 
in this vicinity, may formerly have been more pronounced, 
and may perhaps have caused the hafgerdingar. 

Not only is Greenland generally surrounded by ice, but 
a huge cap of ice covers the interior, leaving only a narrow 
fringe of bare land along the coasts, consisting of islands, 




By courtesy of Capt. D. Bruun 

Encsvog on Oxnb^ Hvammsjiord^ Iceland 
Here Eric the Red dhvelt while banished, before going to Greenland 




By courtesy of M. Clemmenien 

Vidvfrom BratUthlid over Ericsford 
In the back-ground Igdlerfigsalik Mountain 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 25 

mountains, and promontories. On the west coast, below 
lat. 73°, this strip of land has an average width of about 
fifty miles, and extends with little interruption from Melville 
Bay to Cape Farewell, a distance of more than one thousand 
miles. Everywhere this mountainous belt is penetrated by 
deep fiords, which reach to the inland ice and terminate 
abruptly with great glaciers. 

It was on this strip of land that the Icelanders settled at 
the end of the tenth century. Though barren on the outer 
shores and islands and on the hills, it is covered at the inner 
part of the fiords on the low level by a rich growth of grass 
together with stunted birch trees and various bushes, par- 
ticularly willows. On the north side of the valleys crowber- 
ries {empetnim nigrum) may be found. In Ari Erode' s Islen- 
dinga Book we, find a brief but important note on Greenland, 
from which, as well as from the Saga of Eric the Red and 
other sources, we learn that it was first explored by Eric 
the Red, the son of a Norwegian chieftain who settled on the 
west coast of Iceland while Eric was still a child. At the 
Thorness Thing Eric was convicted of manslaughter and 
banished from Iceland for three years. He decided to seek the 
region discovered by one Gunnbjorn, who, being driven by 
gales westward from Iceland, had found some islands, Gunn- 
bjorn 's Skerries, probably on the east coast of Greenland. 
When Eric was banished, he lived on an island in Hvamms- 
fiord, where ruins of his house may still be seen. He fitted 
out his ship in Ericsvog on BreiSifiord and sailed west from 
Snsefellsness. He soon sighted the glaciers of Greenland, 
and explored the coast, particularly around Julianehaab 
Bay, during the years from 982 to 985, in order to find the 
places most suitable for colonization. On his return, Eric 



26 THE VOYAGES OF 

induced many other Icelanders to go with him and settle in 
Greenland, and it is said that twenty-five ships sailed from 
Iceland, of which, however, only fourteen reached their des- 
tination. Some of the ships were driven back to Iceland, but 
others were probably lost at sea or in the ice from the lack 
of experience of their crews in this dangerous navigation. 

Eric settled in Ericsfiord, the present Tunugdliarfik, at 
a place which he called Brattahlid, now Kagsiarsuk, in 985 
or 986. Two distinct colonies were founded, the Eastern Set- 
tlement, extending from about Cape Farewell to a point well 
beyond Cape Desolation, comprising the whole of Juliane- 
haab Bay and the coast past Ivigtut, and the Western Set- 
tlement, beginning about one hundred and seventy miles 
farther north at Lysufiord, the present iVmeralikfiord, com- 
prising the district of Godthaab. 

The fiord next Ericsfiord in the Eastern Settlement was 
Einarsfiord, now Igalikofiord. These fiords were separated 
at their head by a low and narrow strip of land, the present 
Igaliko Isthmus. It was here, at GarSar, that the Althing 
of Greenland met, and here was also found the bishop's 
seat, established at the beginning of the twelfth century. 
There were as many as sixteen churches in Greenland, for 
almost every fiord had its own church on account of the 
long distances and difficult travelling between the fiords. 

The headland referred to in the sagas and in the old sail- 
ing directions as Hvarf, that is, the point about which the 
ships rounded, is believed to be Cape Desolation (Nunar- 
suit), the most southwestern point of Greenland. 

The total population in the two settlements hardly ever 
exceeded two thousand, and of these by far the greater part 
lived in the Eastern Settlement. This is manifest from the 




B)' courtesy of M.L 



Brattahlid 

The ruins are found where the Greenlander stands in the middle of the 
picture, but are hidden from vie^v by the tall grass 




By courtesy of M. Clt 



Fierv of the Plain at Igaliko. MG, XL VII 
On the left are houses of the modern Greenlanders and the place where the 
' ' Thing- ' ' 7s beliex'ed to have been held. To the right the ruins of Gardar Ca- 
thedral and the bisho/i's house. In the bac/cground Igdlerfigsalik Mountain 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 27 

number of ruins now left, and from the known distribution 
of the churches, of which there were twelve in the Eastern 
Settlement and only four in the Western Settlement. 

Thanks to the work of Captain Gustav Holm of the Dan- 
ish Navy and Captain Daniel Bruun of the Danish Army, 




B^ courtesy of M, Clemmensen 

Map of the Plain at Igaliko. MC, XLVII 
After suTvey by Cafit. G. Holm and Capt. D. Bruun, 
showing ruins of Gardar Cathedral and the bisho/i's house 

carried out under the auspices of the Danish Greenland 
Committee,* the remains of the Norse colony in Greenland 
have to a considerable extent been investigated, and much 
light has been thrown on the life and history of the early set- 

* Kommissionen for Ledelsen af Geologiske og Geograjiske Undersogelser i 
Gronland, MG, VI, XVI, XLVII. 



28 



THE VOYAGES OF 



tiers, as well as on the old topography. Finnur Jonsson* has, 
in particular, made a study of this latter question, and has 
succeeded in identifying many of the churches, fiords, etc. 
The Norsemen setded chiefly at the inner part of a fiord, 
on the low lands, where there were good pastures and woods, 
and near a river or brook, rich in salmon. Each farm con- 
sisted of a number of buildings, sometimes as many as 




Large Pen at Kakortok. MG^ VI 

twenty. The general lay-out of the farm, as well as the con- 
struction of the houses, was much on the same plan as in 
Iceland. The dwelling-houses ^vere built on a well-drained 
spot; if the farm was located on a fiord, it was built near 
a landing-place. Not far from the dwelling-houses were 
found scattered various smaller detached buildings, used as 
storehouses, smithy, and barns for the milch cows, each 
barn generally containing a division for the storage of hay. 

* Gronlands Gamle Tojiogra/ihi efter Kilderne , MG, 1898. 




This farm is of middle size, and 
is situated at the bottom of Ser- 
7nilik Fiord. Directly north of the 
ruins is a steefi mountain side 
couerednvith dense willow bushes, 
and good fiasture is found on the 
terraces. Cows as well as sheep, 
or goats were kept on the farm . 
Ruin N'o. 1 is the dwelling-house 
with its kitchen midden. J\''o. 2 
is a small house attached to the 
dwelling. JVos. 3 and 5 are cow- 
barns with haybarns attached. 
Jfos. 4, 7, and 9 are storehouses. 
jSfo. 6 is a house for sheep or 
goats, divided into sex'eral com- 
partments. Ab. 8 is a pen for 
sheep or goats. A''o. 10 is a hay- 
barn. 






Ruins of a Farm in the Eastern Settlement. MG.^ XVI 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 



29 



At a greater distance from the dwelling-house were found 
other barns and houses for cows, sheep, and goats, as well 
as stone cattle-pens for use in the summer. Some pens were 
built at a distance from the farms in more remote pastures, 
often on a high level, corresponding to the sseters in Norway. 
The oldest type of dwelling-house consisted in its simplest 
form of a rectangular structure with one or two rooms, to 




Ruins of the House at Brattahlid. The home of Eric the Red 

which was added an annex at the back . In larger farms were 
found, as in Iceland, several houses built side by side on one 
line, often with an annex at the back. Later structures were 
more complex; the houses were grouped one behind the 
other, being usually separated by a central passage or cor- 
ridor. The ordinary length of a house with two rooms 
was about fifty feet; the breadth rarely exceeded twelve to 
eighteen feet. The walls were of only a man's height, and 
were from three to four feet thick. They were constructed of 
sod and stones, but chiefly of sod. Often the foundation was 
of stones; the walls were entirely of sod. Storehouses were 
generally built wholly of stones, or with but little sod in- 
terposed. As a result, the ruins of storehouses and barns 



30 



THE VOYAGES OF 



are usually better preserved than those of dwelling-houses. 
In the Eastern Settlement good building material was 
available in a red sandstone which is abundant in that local- 
ity, and of this stone the best preserved ruins are constructed. 
In the Western Settlement building materials were scarce 
and the houses were made of sod and earth. Floors, even in 
the dwelling-houses, appear to have been made of clay. No 
trace of wooden floors has been found, unless the layer of 
charcoal, which is seen on the ground inside many of the 
houses, is due not only to the roof, but also to the floor . Roofs 
were constructed of a framework of wood covered with sod; 
their slope appears to have been moderate. The narrowness 
of the houses was probably required by the dimensions of 




Eldhiis xvith Fireplace in a DxvelUng- House in the Eastern Settlement 

By courtesy of Capt. D. Bruun 

the spars available for construction of the roofs. These spars 
were obtained chiefly from the native scrub birches or from 
pieces of driftwood, which were generally of small size. 
Holes in the roof provided for the escape of smoke, and for 
the admission of light. 




X 



><> 



s 



->-^-* 

^ 






(^ 






^ 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 31 

Fireplaces were either built of flat stones above the floor, 
often in the middle of the room, or consisted of round pits, 
lined with stones. Fire-pits were not, however, used as much 
as in Iceland, probably because the Greenlanders could 
easily obtain vessels for cooking food from the soapstone 
which they could get in abundance. Along the walls were 
raised benches of earth or sod, which probably served as 
beds. Gutters were fitted for drainage of water. 

Near the ruins of old dwelling-houses are still found dump 
heaps, often several feet deep, containing ashes, refuse from 
the meals, and fragments of dishes, vessels, and other im- 
plements made of soapstone. Among the refuse have been 
unearthed numerous bones of seal, oxen, goats, sheep, and 
other animals. Seal bones were most common. 

Stables and barns were built of stones and sod. Cow-barns 
had an average breadth of from thirteen and a half to four- 
teen feet. The cows stood in two rows, one against each side 
wall, but overlapping each other, as the structure was too 
narrow for the rows to clear each other. The stables had 
stalls on one side only. The houses for sheep and goats were 
rarely more than from eight and one-half to ten and one- 
half feet wide, interior measure. 

Churches were erected in the old Irish style, generally 
of granite, except that the cathedral at GarSar was of red 
sandstone. Of this cathedral, which was eighty-two feet 
long, nothing save the foundation is now left, but the neigh- 
boring Eskimo houses contain sandstones taken from the 
old structure. The best preserved ruin is of the church at 
Kakortok in the Eastern Settlement. 

In many places the Norsemen constructed houses on 
prominent points near the coast and on islands. For what 



32 THE VOYAGES OF 

purpose these houses were buih is uncertain. Thus, on top of 
Igdlerfigsalik, a mountain 5500 feet high, to the north of 
Igaliko, may be seen the ruins of two small stone houses, 
which are generally believed to have been used for lookouts. 
It seems not unlikely that a lookout was kept in the season 
when the arrival of the trading-ship from Norway was ex- 
pected. This was an event of the utmost importance to the 
colony, and the ship might often need help because of the 
difficult navigation through the ice. Numerous beacons were 




Beacon, MG, XVI 

erected at suitable points to serve as landmarks to people 
travelling overland from one fiord to another. 

Life on Greenland must have clearly been very monoto- 
nous and narrowing. The hard struggle for existence was 
varied only by the arrival of ships from Europe, but these 
events became rarer as time went on. On the whole, the col- 
ony was very poor and the arts wtvQ primitive. The women 
spun yarn from the wool of the sheep and wove woolen stuifs 
on their handlooms. All dishes, jars, and other vessels were 
made of soapstone, as mentioned above. 

Sketches* are here given of some of the objects found 

*ilfG, XVI and XLVII. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 



33 



among the ruins in different localities in Greenland, It is 
hoped that these sketches, as well as those in the chap- 
ter on Iceland, will prove useful in the investigation and 






Spinning Stone Pe^-f orated Piece of Soapstone Checker of Bone 
Half size Half size Tivo-thirds size 




Perforated Piece of Soapstoyie -with Runic Inscription 
Half size 





Perforated Pieces of Soapstone 
Half size 

[MG, xr/1 

Drawn by Capt. D. Bruun 



34 



THE VOYAGES OF 




xn ei iji 



Wooden Cross from Graveyard at Ikigint 
Halfi 




Axe found at Ericspord. MG^ XL FIT 



By courtesy of M. Ckmmenscn 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 



35 




Flat Soapstone -with Ornaments. MG^ XFI 

Drawn hy Capt. D. Bruun 

identification of ruins and objects which may be found on 
the coasts of America. 

For the sake of completeness, the later runic alphabet 
used by the Norsemen in the Viking Period is inserted 



u \> 



(o) 



h n 1 a s 
g 

Tlie Later Runic Alphabet 



t P 
d b 



1 m 



R 

(y) 



here. It will be noticed that there are only sixteen symbols, 
whence some of the runes signify two different sounds, and 
several vowels are not expressed. Thus each pair of the let- 
ters k and g^ t and of, p and b is expressed by the same sym- 
bol. The runic inscriptions cannot, therefore, be properly 
read without an intimate knowledge of the Old Norse (Ice- 
landic) language and its development. 

The Norsemen in Greenland lived chiefly by sealing, 
stock-raising, and fishing. Seal were caught in the fiords 
and salmon in the streams. Cows, sheep, and goats were 



36 THE VOYAGES OF 

kept in great number; the cattle were a small breed. The 
Greenland Norsemen made much butter and cheese. They 
also hunted or trapped the greater mammals, such as polar 
bears and reindeer, as well as foxes and wolves. They had 
no kind of native grain, and for this, as well as for lumber of 
even moderate size, they depended entirely on importation. 

The principal fishing and hunting grounds were at a con- 
siderable distance to the north on the west coast of Green- 
land, at the so-called "Nordrseta." From the Greenland 
Annals of Bjom Jbnsson we learn that the leading farmers 
in Greenland had large vessels, built to send north along 
the coast for hunting seal, wolves, and perhaps whale. At 
Nordrseta was good fishing ; there also were the breeding- 
places of the eider-duck ; and driftwood was gathered. The 
men who thus went north were called Nordrseta-men ; they 
had their huts in the northern regions at certain places, of 
which Greipar and Krogfiordsheath {Krbksjiardarheidr) are 
mentioned in the sagas. 

We do not know how far north the Nordrseta-men ordi- 
narily went, and we are unable with certainty to gi\e the 
location of the places just named. It appears, however, that 
the name Krogfiordsheath applied to the district between 
Disko Bay and Holstensborg. North Stromfiord and adja- 
cent inlets, or Disko Bay with the Vaigat, may with their 
crooked form have given rise to the term ' ' Krogfiord. ' ' The 
land uncovered by glaciers is here wider than at an}" other 
part of the coast, and is much lower than farther south ; in 
former times it furnished the best of all pastures for the rein- 
deer in Greenland. In the district between Holstensborg and 
Svartenhook there was excellent hunting of ^^'olves and 
seal. As driftwood was found at Nordrseta, this place cannot 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 37 

have been far north of the Holstensborg district. At Grey- 
par "seal-tar" was made. The blubber was melted and 
poured into skin-bags, which were suspended in the wind 
in drying-houses. After it had congealed, it was prepared. 

That the Greenland Norsemen at times ventured much 
farther north than Disko seems, however, certain. In the 
Annals of Bjorn Jonsson we find the following remarkable 
account, written by a priest in Greenland, of an exploring 
expedition undertaken by the Norse Greenlanders to the 
Arctic regions in the year 1266: 

"That summer came also people from Nordrseta, who 
had travelled farther north than we have formerly heard 
of. They saw no sign that Skraslings had lived there except 
at Krogfiordsheath, and it is thought that this must be the 
shortest way for them [the Skrcelings] to go, from wherever 
they get there. Thereupon the priests sent a ship northward 
in order to explore the regions north of the farthest point 
which they had hitherto visited; but they sailed out from 
Krogfiordsheath, until they lost sight of the land. Then they 
had a south wind against them and darkness, and they had 
to let the ship go before the wind; but when the storm ceased 
and it cleared up again, they saw many islands and all kinds 
of game, both seals and whales and a great number of bears. 
They came right into the sea-bay {allt i hafsbotninn) ^ and 
lost sight of all the land, both the southern coast and the 
glaciers; but south of them were also glaciers, as far as they 
could see. They saw signs that the Skrselings had dwelt 
there in former times, but on account of the bears they 
could not land. Thereafter they sailed back in three days, 
and found some remains of Skrselings on some islands south 
of Snsefell. Then they sailed southward to Krogfiordsheath, 



38 THE VOYAGES OF 

one good day's rowing, St. James's Day [July 25th]. It 
was frosty at night, but the sun shone both night and day, 
and was not higher in the south than that, when a man 
placed himself athwartships in a six-oared boat [with his 
head] up against the railing [or gunwale] on one side of 
the boat, the shadow of that side [gunwale] which was near- 
est to the sun would strike his face; but at midnight the 
sun was as high as at home in the settlement when it is 
in northwest. Thereafter they travelled home to GarSar." 

The object of this expedition is not clear, but it looks as if 
it was sent out to discover where the Skraslings came from 
and where they lived. It is impossible to determine where 
the explorers got, but they must have penetrated far north 
or west into Baffin Bay. Possibly they passed through the 
so-called ' ' middle water ' ' to the ^\'estern shores of Baffin 
Bay. The glaciers that they saw to the south of them would 
then have been on the northeastern part of Baffin Land. 

In the Annals of Bjom J bnsson is found an old chorogra- 
phy, in which it is stated that it took six days' rowing with 
six men in a six-oared boat from the Eastern to the Western 
Settlement (here the names of the fiords in this latter place 
are given), thence from the beginning of the Western Set- 
tlement to Lysufiord six days' rowing, from there six days' 
rowing to Karlsbooths {Karlbudir), then three days' rowing 
to Bjarney, and twelve days' rowing round Bjarney,Eisu- 
ness, and Aedaness north. Since the Bjarney here men- 
tioned may be the same as that which is given as the start- 
ing-point of Karlsefni's voyage {ER)^ it would be of inter- 
est to know where this island was located. Unfortunately, 
the above statements are not clear, since Lysufiord is known 
to have been at the beginning of the Western Settlement. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 39 

Perhaps the passage in question should read : ' ' thence from 
the beginning of the Western Settlement at Lysufiord six 
days' rowing to Karlsbooths." In that case Bjarney might 
be Disko Island in lat. 69 °-70° . The description is too con- 
fused, however, to permit any definite opinion on the point. 
Positive evidence of the Norsemen's explorations of North 
Greenland is found in a small runic stone, discovered in 
1824 near the ruins of some beacons on the island of Kin- 
giktorsuak in lat. 72° SS\ north of Upernivik.* This stone. 




Runic Stone found at Kingiktorsuak^ Lat. 72° 55' . MG., XL VIII 

of which an exact picture is given in Antiqvariske Annaler^ 
volume iv, was later lost, but a copy of it is preserved in 
the National Museum in Copenhagen. The inscription, 
which Professor Rask and other authorities have declared to 
be genuine, seems to indicate that it dates from about 1300. 
It has been read as follows: '"''Ellingr. Sigvaps: son: r. ok. 
Bjanne: Tbrtarson : ok Enridi. Osson: Laugardag. inn:fyrir. 
Gagndag hlbdu. varda te. ok ruddu {jj. ritii) MCXXXV (.^) , " 
and has been thus translated : ' ' Erling Sigvatsson and 
Bjarne Thordarson and Endride Oddson built this (or these) 
beacon(s) Saturday after 'Gagnday' (April 25th) and 

* GHM, III, aiid Antiq-variske Annaler , 1827, by Professor Rasmus Rask and 
Professor Finn Magnusen. 



40 THE VOYAGES OF 

cleared (the place) (or made the inscription) 1135 (?)." The 
reading of the year is uncertain. 

Trade in Greenland was based on the export of hides, in 
particular sealskins, ropes of walrus hide, and walrus tusks. 
Imports consisted of lumber, iron, grain, and innumerable 
other articles of necessity and luxury which could not be 
produced or manufactured at home. 

The Greenland colony seems to have enjoyed its highest 
prosperity in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. During the 
thirteenth century it may have held its own, but in the four- 
teenth it was decidedly on the decline, and in the fifteenth 
it was completely extinct. For our knowledge of the colony, 
especially during the last centuries of its existence, we are 
largely indebted to the Church. We have an almost com- 
plete list of the bishops of Greenland to the end of the four- 
teenth century. Later also, even up to the beginning of the 
sixteenth century, bishops were nominated for Greenland, 
but they never reached the country. From a papal bull of 
1282 we learn that the Greenland-tithes were paid in ox- 
hides, sealskins, and walrus tusks. One of the latest facts 
to come to light is a papal letter, dating from 1492, which 
was recently found in the papal archives by a Dalmatian 
priest. Dr. Jelic. Speaking of Greenland, this letter says (in 
abstract) : ' ' The inhabitants have no bread, wine, or oil, but 
live on dried fish and milk. Navigation is very rare, and land- 
ing can take place only in August, after the ice is melted. 
Therefore it is believed that during the last eighty years no 
ship has reached there, and no bishop or priest has resided 
there. The consequence has been that most of the inhabit- 
ants have abandoned the Christian faith . ' ' These statements 
correspond well with what we know from other sources. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 41 

/ By the year 1500 Greenland was practically a lost coun- 
try, but its position had been then recorded pretty correctly 
on the maps of Claudius Clavus, and the old sailing direc- 
tions preserved in Icelandic manuscripts were tolerably ac- 
curate and complete. In 1576 Greenland was rediscovered 
by Frobisher. 

Several concurrent causes appear to have contributed to 
the pathetic ending of this outpost of European civilization. 
In 1261 the colony came under the crown of Norway, and 
its trade was soon after monopolized by the king, which 
probably made for disaster. From then on, its only, or at 
least its chief, connection with the rest of the world was the 
Norwegian trading-ship, the so-called ' ' Greenland Knorr, ' ' 
which sailed from Bergen at very irregular and long inter- 
vals, generally of several years' duration. The last time we 
hear about the Knorr was in 1410, when it sailed from 
Greenland to Norway, but it is possible that there was con- 
nection between the two countries later in that century. 

It appears that during the era of decline of the Norse col- 
ony a southward advance of the Eskimos along the west 
coast of Greenland took place. It began perhaps as early as 
in the thirteenth century, and may have been caused by the 
pressure of an immigration of other tribes from the north, 
across Smith Sound. While the Eskimos increased, the 
Norse population declined in number and vigor. Fights, we 
know, occurred between the two races, but probably friendly 
intercourse also existed, perhaps for prolonged periods. 

Evidence of fighting is found in a note in the report of 
Ivar Baardson,* according to which the Western Settle- 
ment was harried and destroyed by the Skrselings some time 

*GHM, 111,259. 



42 THE VOYAGES OF 

after 1341. Further, according to ihe^ I eel midic Annals * the 
. /Skraehngs, in 1379, made an attack, probably on the East- 
ern Settlement, in which they killed a number of the Norse- 
men and took many prisoners. 

Among the tales and traditions of the Eskimos collected 
by Dr. Henry Rinkf occur five that deal with the relations 
between the Kaladlit (plural oi Kalaleq, as the South-Green- 
land Eskimos called themselves) and the Kavdlunait^ as the 
Norsemen were called by the Eskimos. They chiefly concern 
the feuds between the Eskimos and the Norsemen, but they 
also tell of friendly relations. 

The most striking of Rink's tales narrates how the Es- 
kimos sneaked into the fiord w here the Norsemen lived with 
whom they wxre at war, and set fire to their house. The 
Norse chieftain, Ungortok, escaped through a window with 
his son in his arms, but, being followed by the Eskimos, he 
had to throw his child into a lake. He succeeded in reach- 
ing Igaliko, where he took refuge with another chieftain, 
Olave, but, still pursued by his special enemy, the Eskimo 
Kaisape, he fled from fiord to fiord until he was finally o^er- 
taken and killed. 

Another of these tales deals with the first meeting between 
the Eskimos and the Norsemen. A boat's crew of Eskimos 
landed at Nook (Godthaab, in the Western Settlement). 
They traversed the fiord, and near Kangiusak they came 
upon a large house; but on getting closer to it, they did not 
know what to make of the people, seeing that they were not 
Kaladlit. In this manner they had quite unexpectedly come 
across the Kavdlunak settlers. These likewise for the first 
time saw the natives of the country, and treated them kindly 

*GHM, III, 33. t Tales and Traditior^s of the Eski77io, 1875. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 43 

and civilly ; but the Eskimos nevertheless feared them and 
made for the boats. On getting farther up the fiord, they 
found many Kavdlunait stationed. However, they did not 
put in anywhere, but hastened away as fast as possible. 
Later on, in the summer, intercourse was established and all 
went well. 

A third tale relates how two Norse women were kid- 
napped by the Eskimos and lived with them. 

The occurrence of the Norse name Olav in the first-men- 
tioned tale, as well as other internal evidence, leaves hardly 
any doubt that in these tales we have traditions which actu- 
ally refer to the old Norse colony. 

/ Nansen believes that the Norsemen , being more and more 
deprived of the products of civilization, must have gradu- 
ally approached the Eskimo mode of living, which was bet- 
ter adapted to the existing natural conditions. He suggests 
that during the peaceful periods which must have existed, 
close intercourse established itself and was accompanied by 
a gradual fusion of the two peoples. Thus, the final disap- 
pearance of the Norsemen was due, in part , to their absorp- 
tion by the more numerous Eskimo population. This theory 
is most important, since it opens up fresh possibilities and 
a new field of research as to the ultimate fate of the Norse 
colony in Greenland. It might be objected that if such a 
fusion had actually taken place, we should have heard more 
about it; but this does not follow. The comparative silence 
of the reports on this point may be due to the fact that in- 
tercourse with the heathen was strictly prohibited by the 
Church. Such intercourse was regarded with the greatest 
abhorrence by all good Christians, and every effort must 
have been made to prevent reports of it from reaching the 



^/ 



44 THE VOYAGES OF 

outside world, especially the ecclesiastical authorities in Nor- 
way and Rome. Judging from the Eskimo traditions, the 
Norsemen did actually associate with the Eskimos, and even 
took pains to learn their language. Little by little, since 
the Church no longer infused new religious life in the col- 
ony by sending out priests, the Norsemen relinquished the 
Christian faith and merged completely with the Eskimo 
population. In spite of all efforts to conceal the fact, reports 
of it reached Iceland, as is seen from the annals of Bishop 
Gisle Oddson,* written in Iceland before 1637. At the year 
1342 we read: "The inhabitants of Greenland voluntarily 
forsook the true faith and the Christian religion, after hav- 
ing abandoned all good morals and true virtues, and were 
converted to the peoples of America \ad America populos se 
converterunt] . ' ' This statement has been interpreted by some 
to mean that the Norsemen emigrated to America, but it 
seems more likely that it simply asserts that they associated 
with the Eskimos and adopted their mode of living. When 
Greenland was rediscovered in the sixteenth century, it was 
found that many of the Eskimos exhibited traits which in- 
dicated admixture with European blood. Nansen's view, 
which appears to be fairly well substantiated by these and 
other facts, leads to an entirely new theory, according to 
which the mixed tribes resulting from the fusion of the 
Norsemen with the Eskimos migrated westward across 
Smith Sound to the American Arctic archipelago in the 
centuries following the extinction of the Norse colony. This 
theory is supported by various bits of evidence, some of 
which are of old date or traditional, while others have quite 
recently come to light. 
* GHM, III, 594. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 45 

Cesar de Rochefort* gives an account of the voyage of a 
ship from Flushing, commanded by Nicolas Tunes, who, in 
the summer of 1656, reached lat. 75° in Baffin Bay. Tunes 
describes two distinct types of natives, who seemed to live 
together in harmony. Of these one kind was very tall of 
stature, well built, and of blond complexion. The other was 
shorter, of olive complexion, and had short, thick legs. The 
men of the former tribe were good runners and lived by 
hunting, the latter tribe lived by fishing. 

Dr. Franz Boas, in his work on The Central Eskimo ^"^ 
relates the following interesting tradition of the Baffin Land 
Eskimos about a certain tribe which he calls the ' ' Tornit ' ' 
people : 

' ' In olden times the Inuit [the American Eskimos] were 
not the only inhabitants of the country in which they live at 
the present time. Another tribe similar to them shared their 
hunting-ground. But they were on good terms, both tribes 
living in harmony in the villages. The Tornit were much 
taller than the Inuit and had very long legs and arms. Almost 
all of them were blear-eyed. They were extremely strong and 
could lift large boulders, which were by far too heavy for the 
Inuit. But even the Inuit of that time were much stronger 
than those of to-day, and some large stones are shown on 
the plain of Miliaqdjuin, in Cumberland Sound, with which 
the ancient Inuit used to play, throwing them great dis- 
tances. Even the strongest men of the present generation 
are scarcely able to lift them, much less to swing them or 
throw them any distance. 

"The Tornit lived on walrus, seals, and deer, just as 

* Histoire des Isles Antilles de V Amerique, Bk. I, ch. xviii. 

t Sixth Refiort of the Bureau of Ethnology, Washm^ton, 1888, p. 634. 



46 THE VOYAGES OF 

the Eskimos do nowadays, but their methods of hunting 
were different. The principal part of their winter dress was 
a long and wide coat of deerskins, similar to the jumper of 
the Eskimo, but reaching down to the knees and trimmed 
with leather straps. When sealing in winter they wore this 
garment, the lower edge of which was fastened on the snow 
by means of pegs. Under the jacket they carried a small 
lamp, called tumiujang (literally, resembling a footprint) or 
quming^ over which they melted snow in a small pot. Some 
Eskimo say that they opened the seals as soon as they were 
caught and cooked some meat over these lamps. When the 
seal blew in the hole they whispered, '' Kapatipara' (I shall 
stab it), and, when they had hit it, '' I gdluilik ."^ Frequently 
they forgot about the lamp, and in throwing the harpoon 
upset it and burned their skin. 

"All their weapons were made of stone. For the blades 
of their knives they used green slate {uluqsaq^ literally, ma- 
terial for women's knives), which was fastened by ivory 
pins to a bone or ivory handle. The points of their harpoons 
were made of bone, ivory, or slate ; those of their lances, of 
flint or quartz, which was also used for drillheads ; but they 
made neither kayaks nor bows. 

"Their method of hunting deer was remarkable. In a 
deer pass, where the game could not escape, they erected a 
pile of cairns across the valley and connected them by ropes. 
Some of the hunters hid behind the cairns, while others 
drove the deer towards them. As the animals were unable 
to pass the rope they fled along it, looking for an exit, and 
while attempting to pass a cairn were lanced by the wait- 
ing hunter, who seized the body by the hind legs and drew 
it behind the line. This tale is related as a proof of their 



^5= 



I tt. 






^ 



5^ 







THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 47 

enormous strength and it is said that they were able to 
hold a harpooned walrus as the Eskimo hold a seal. 

The Tornit could not clean the sealskins so well as the 
Inuit, but worked them up with part of the blubber at- 
tached. Their way of preparing meat was disgusting, since 
they let it become putrid, and placed it between the thigh 
and the belly to warm it. 

The old stone houses of the Tornit can be seen every- 
where. Generally they did not build snow houses, but lived 
the whole winter in stone buildings, the roofs of which were 
frequently supported by whale ribs. Though the Eskimo 
built similar structures, they can be easily distinguished 
from one another, the bed of their huts being much larger 
than that of the Tornit. 

Though both tribes lived on very good terms, the Inuit 
did not like to play at ball with the Tornit, as they were 
too strong and used large balls with which they hurt their 
playfellows severely. 

"A remarkable tradition is told w^th reference to the 
emigration of this people. 

The Tornit did not build any kayaks, but as they were 
aware of the advantages afforded by their use in" hunting, 
they stole the boats from the Inuit, who did not dare to de- 
fend their property, the Tornit being by far their superiors 
in strength. Once upon a time a young Tuniq (Tornit) had 
taken the kayak of a young Inung without asking him and 
had injured it by knocking in the bottom. The Inung got 
very angry and ran a knife into the nape of the Tuniq's 
neck while he was sleeping. (According to another tradition 
he drilled a hole into his head; this form is also recorded in 
Labrador.) The Tornit then became afraid that the Inuit 



48 THE VOYAGES OF 

would kill them all and preferred to leave the country for 
good. They assembled at Quernivtung (a place in Cumber- 
land Sound, Baffin Land), and in order to deceive any pur- 
suers they cut off the tails of their jumpers and tied their 
hair into a bunch protruding from the crown of the head. 

"In another form of the tradition it is said that while 
playing with the Tornit a young Inung fell down and broke 
his neck. The Tornit feared that the Inuit might take re- 
venge upon them and left the country. 

' ' Many old ditties are sung which either treat of the 
Tornit or are reported to have been sung by them. Some of 
them will be found in the linguistic account connected with 
my [Dr. Boas's] journey." 

According to Dr. Boas, the tradition as here given, which 
is the Baffin Land version, is found in a similar form in Lab- 
rador. It exists also in Greenland,* but there the tribe is 
entirely fabulous, each individual being of enormous size, 
living inland, and seldom hunting in the upper parts of the 
fiords. While in the western part of the Eskimo country 
a more historical form of the tradition is preserved, it is 
entirely mythical in Greenland. 

Though the reports of the Tornit people are mere tradi- 
tions, they nevertheless point to the existence in Baffin Land, 
in perhaps not very remote times, of a hybrid tribe of Eskimos, 
who might well, according to the description, be descend- 
ants of the old Norse-Eskimo tribes of Greenland. The stay 
of this tribe in Baffin Land may mark one of the stages in its 
westward migration. There are numerous reports of Eski- 
mos of mixed origin, presumably of European type, seen by 
the explorers of Arctic North America in the nineteenth cen- 

*Rink, Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, p. 469. 



■-^'^ijjy-^ 



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t^l 


2 


^ 

^ 






S' 


s 


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o 


^-v 


o. 




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2 


d 









5? 




THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 49 

tury, but the most recent and most important fact which has 
come to light is the discovery by Dr. Vilhjahnur Stefans- 
son of the so-called ' ' Blond Eskimos ' ' in the region of the 
Coronation Gulf.* On Victoria Island, in the Arctic archi- 
pelago, about midway between Baffin Land and Alaska, 
Stefansson found, in 1910, several tribes of Eskimos, among 
whom a great number of individuals possessed more or less 
resemblance to white men. These people could not in recent 
times have had any contact with whites that would have 
changed their physical type. 

Stefansson says : ' ' Of something less than a thousand per- 
sons, ten or more have blue eyes (no full-blooded Eskimo 
has a right to have blue ej^es, as far as we know — his eyes 
should be as brown and his hair as black as those of the 
typical Chinaman) ; some of the men eradicate their beards 
(pull out the hairs by the roots, as many Indian tribes do 
also), but of those who have beards a good many have light- 
brown ones ; no one seen has light hair of the golden Scandi- 
navian type, but some have dark-brown and rusty-red hair, 
the redness being usually more pronounced on the forehead 
than on the back of the head, and perhaps half the entire 
population have eyebrows ranging from a dark brown to a 
light brown or nearly white. A few have curly hair. 

"It is, however, not only the blondness of the Victoria- 
Islanders that suggests the European, but also the form of 
their heads, as shown by measurements of adult males." 

The accompanying pictures (facing pages 46 and 48) 
give a good idea of the type. The great height of some of 



*My Life with the Eskimo, New York, 1913, pp. 191-202; National Geo- 
grafihical Magazine, December, 1912; Greely, Origin of Stefansson' a 
Blond Eskiyno. 



50 VOYAGES OF THE NORSEMEN 

the men is very striking, and some of the faces unquestion- 
ably remind one of typical Scandinavians. 

It is of interest to note that the Eskimos of northern 
Alaska, who have been exposed to strong European influ- 
ence for over a hundred years, have preserved their Eskimo 
characteristics. Many American whalers have married Es- 
kimo women and have settled in the country, but even this 
mixing of the races has not, according to Stefansson, pro- 
duced in northern Alaska such a blond type as found in 
Victoria Island. In fact, most of the individuals of mixed 
descent cannot be distinguished offhand from full-blooded 
Eskimos, and they do not as a whole present an appear- 
ance so North-European as the three tribes in southwest 
Victoria Island. 

The widespread nature of the European characteristics 
among these tribes seems to show that the mixture took 
place at a very remote period, and their persistence indicates 
that European women as well as European men must have 
been partners in the admixture. Since no intercourse be- 
tween Eskimos and Europeans appears to have occurred 
in post-Columbian times, which could account for such 
thorough mixing of the races, the only, or at least the most 
plausible, explanation of the facts recorded by Stefansson 
seems to be that the Blond Eskimos, as suggested above, 
are related to the Norse Greenlanders. Further study of 
these tribes is needed to throw light on this question, but 
Stefansson has at least shown that the language and cus- 
toms of the Blond Eskimos point to a closer relation to the 
eastern than to the western tribes of America. 



CHAPTER III 

THE SHIPS OF THE NORSEMEN 

BEFORE discussing the navigation of the Norsemen, 
we shall consider briefly the means at their disposal for 
making their extended voyages across the ocean. 

It is fortunate that we have tolerably complete informa- 
tion on this point, thanks to the remarkable finds of vessels 
from the Viking Period made in Norway during recent 
years. We shall base our description on the so-called Gok- 
stad ship,* the largest of the vessels discovered, which, 
although probably built chiefly as a warship, approaches 
in type and size the seagoing trading-ships of that time. 
Afterwards we shall discuss the essential points of differ- 
ence between the two types. 

The Gokstad ship, which dates probably from the ninth 
century, was found in 1880 near Sandefiord, at the entrance 
to the Kristiania fiord. A chieftain or king had been buried 
in it, and we owe its preservation to the circumstance that 
there was thrown up over it a mound of blue clay, which 
prevented the access of air and thus kept the wood and 
other materials from decay. The principal dimensions of 
the ship are as follows : 

Length over all 101 feet 
Length in water-line about 85 feet 
Breadth, extreme 16 feet 7 in. 
Draft 3 feet 8 in. 
Freeboard amidships 3 feet 
Displacement about 30 tons 
Complement about 40 men 

*N. Nicolaysen, Langskibet fra Gokstad, Kristiania, 1882. 



52 THE VOYAGES OF 

As seen from Plate I, the lines of the Gokstad ship were 
very fine ; the broad and shallow form secured great stiff- 
ness. The ship had one mast with a square sail, and could, 
moreover, be propelled by oars, of which there were thirty- 
two, sixteen on each side. By Avay of comparison, it may 
be stated that by statute the smallest size of the ships which 
the various districts in Norway must place at the king's 
disposal in time of war had forty oars. The hull was of oak, 
clinker built on frames thirty-nine inches apart. The frames 
were not continued to the gunwale, but stopped at the beams, 
which rested on top of them. Above the beams the place of 
the frames was taken by knees, to which the upper planks 
were fastened. The lower limb of the knees rested on the 
upper side of the beams. In addition short intermediate 
frames were fitted, which went down from the gunwale 
between each alternate pair of knees, constituting the chief 
connection betM^een the lower and the upper part of the ship. 
Plate II shows the midship section. 

Bottom boards, or flooring placed lengthwise from beam 
to beam, formed a complete platform or deck, which sepa- 
rated the lower part of the ship from the upper. The oars- 
men were probably seated on small portable seats, of which, 
however, no remains have been found. It is known that in 
larger ships seats were fitted on each side above the beams. 
While the planks of the bottom were fastened to each other 
by iron rivets, the connection between the planks and the 
frames, as well as between the keel and the frames, was ef- 
fected by withies, probably the roots of birch trees. These 
withies were passed through holes in the under side of the 
frames and corresponding holes in cleats carved out of the 
wood on the inner surface of the planks. (See sketch on 



a: 

X 
(D 

O 

i 

O 
U5 

UJ 
X 
V- 
L- 
O 

UJ 
00 



X 

CO 

o 




THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 53 

Plate II.) This mode of fastening the planks to the frames 
is of particular interest. It involved great labor, but it gave 
to the hull a high degree of flexibility or yielding capacity, 
which enabled it to stand the great strains incidental to the 
movements in a seaway and in the surf, better than would 
have been the case with a more rigid fastening. It seems, in- 
deed, doubtful whether it would be possible, with such light 
scantlings as were used in these vessels, to have attained 
sufficient strength if metal bolts had been used instead of 
withies. Above the beams the planks were fastened to the 
aforesaid knees by treenails. 

It appears that the Norsemen had no hemp ropes. Their 
ropes, light and heavy, were made of bast, cattle hair, 
leather, or withies. In the Gokstad ship there were found 
many pieces of ship's rope, all of bast, which was prob- 
ably the material most commonly used. Water tightness was 
obtained by inserting cattle hair, spun in three-stranded 
cords, between the bottom planks. Probably these cords 
were laid between the planks while the vessel was being 
built, and not calked in afterwards. In the Nydam boat,* 
the oldest Scandinavian vessel so far discovered, dating 
probably from the third century a. d., the calking is effected 
by a woolen stuff" and a pitchy, sticky substance. In some 
ships the bottom was paid with tar, but in the Gokstad 
ship it appears that the bottom was unpainted. The rudder 
was hung on the starboard quarter and was shaped like 
a large oar ; at its upper end it had a transverse tiller. It was 
suspended in a heavy rope, fixed about the height of the 
water-line to a heavy wooden block or cushion of conical 

* See George H. Boehmer, Prehistoric JVaval Architecture of the JVorth of 
Eurofie. 



54 THE VOYAGES OF 

shape on the side of the ship. Another block or wooden 
pillow was fitted outside the ship at the height of the sheer 
strake; it had a semi-cylindrical, vertical groove in which 
the rudder head rested, held in place by a loop or grommet. 
When the ship came into shallow water, where the rudder, 
projecting below the keel, would take the ground, it could 
be raised or tilted to a nearly horizontal position by means of 
a line fixed at its lower end. As late as the fourteenth cen- 
tury, rudders were thus hung on the right-hand side of the 
ship (looking forward) , whence the term starboard {stjojn- 
6or<5?, rudder side ; Danish and Norwegian , ^^'z/r/^rof) for this 
side of the ship, while the side to which the helmsman 
turned his back was called hakhordi. 

The mast, which could be raised and lowered, stood in u 
step formed in a long oaken block slotted over the frames and 
resting on the keel. The mast was, moreover, supported by 
another long and very heavy block of oak, the ' 'fish, ' ' fitted 
on top of the beams. It extended over six frame spaces, and 
was fixed to the beams by knees of crooked timber heads. 
Both ends were carved or shaped to represent roughly the 
tail of a fish. In Denmark and Norway the mast partners 
are still called Jisken (the fish) . Along the middle of the fish 
there was a rectangular slot, through the forward end of 
which the mast projected. A heavy portable slab closed this 
slot like a lid and held the mast in an erect position. (See 
Plates I and II.) When this slab was removed the mast could 
be lowered and raised again , for which purpose the anchor 
winch found in the bow was probably used. The anchor 
itself was of iron Avith wooden stock, quite like the later 
"navy" or "admiralty" type. 

The rowlocks consisted of holes in the sheer strake. The 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 55 

oars were of spruce, about twenty feet long, but diminished 
in length from amidships towards the ends ; they were 
passed into the rowlocks from the inside. The rowlocks 
could be closed with sliding shutters. 

No less than three smaller boats were found in the Gok- 
stad ship; they were, respectively, twenty-five feet, eigh- 
teen feet, and thirteen and a half feet long on the keel, and, 
like the big ship, were provided with oars. At least two of 
them carried a mast and a square sail. 

A tent, of a rather fine woolen texture with red stripes 
sewed across, was used for shelter. It was supported by 
stanchions and a ridgepole. In the fore part of the ship were 
found the remains of five berths. 

Along the sides were placed the shields, painted alter- 
nately yellow and black, overlapping each other, and thus, 
in some measure, increasing the freeboard. The shields were 
circular of about three feet diameter, made of thin boards 
with a plate of iron on the middle to protect the hand. A 
stiffening rib on the inside formed a handle at the centre. A 
heavy plank with steps cut in it served as a landing. 

The inventory preserved with the ship throws much 
light on the mode of living of a seafaring man in those 
days. Wooden dishes and wooden drinking-cups were used. 
A large copper cauldron with a chain for suspending it 
over the fire was used for cooking food, but probably only 
on shore, since there is no evidence that a fire had been or 
could be built on board the ship. Probably salt meat, pork, 
and dried or salt fish formed the chief provisions when at 
sea. Pieces of dark woolen cloth, of silk interwoven with gold 
thread, and ornaments of bronze, lead, and iron, bear wit- 
ness to the advanced civilization of the Norsemen of the day. 



56 THE VOYAGES OF 

The bilges were emptied by buckets or large dippers ; 
pumps were probably not introduced till the twelfth cen- 
tury. The weight of the hull, with inventory, stores, and 
equipment, of the Gokstad ship hardly exceeded eighteen 
tons. If we reckon a crew under war conditions of some sev- 
enty men, and allow two hundred and twenty-five pounds 
per man with effects, the weight of crew and effects would 
be about seven tons, leaving some five tons for carrying arms 
and other extra load. It appears that the load, if any, was 
placed principally on top of the beams, in the upper part 
of the ship, the beams being to this end supported at their 
middle by props stepped in the throats of the floors. 

The Gokstad ship was a so-called ' ' longship, ' ' built prin- 
cipally for war purposes. Such ships were relatively long 
and narrow and were designed for high speed, with oars 
as their principal means of propulsion. Their freeboard 
was generally small ; they were not ocean-going craft, but 
were frequently used for crossing the Baltic and the North 
Sea. The biggest longship ever built in Norway up to a.d. 
1000, the "Long Serpent" [Ormrinn langi)^ was 160 feet 
long overall, and is said to have had thirty-four pairs of oars. 
According to Heimskr'mgla^ the bulwarks of the Long Ser- 
pent were as high as in a ship built for sailing on the ocean, 
showing that ordinarily longships had less freeboard than 
seagoing ships. 

The so-called ' ' knorrs ' ' \^ ere relatively shorter and of 
higher freeboard than warships ; they could stand better 
than longships the strains to which they were exposed when 
working in a seaway, and were on the whole more sea- 
worthy and more strongly constructed. They depended 
chiefly on sail power, and would, therefore, often have to 




The Gokstad Ship 

Photograph by 0. Faring 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 57 

wait for a favorable wind. They had, however, some oars 
as auxiliary power, rigged forward and aft of the cargo, 
which occupied the central portion of the ship. 

Trading-ships had generally only a partial deck or floor- 
ing forward and aft, and sometimes a narrow passage along 
the sides, connecting the decks at the ends. The remainder 
of the hold was open, and here the cargo was stowed, often 
piled high above the gunwale. A ceiling was fitted on the 
frames in order to prevent the cargo from resting directly on 
the outer planks, and for keeping it clear of the bilge water. 
No heavy load could safely be placed directly on the bottom 
planks, since their connection to the frames, if of the same 
character as in the Gokstad ship, was too weak for this 
purpose. On the other hand, as long as there was no direct 
load on the planks from the inside, there could be no great 
stress on the ties connecting the planks to the frames, since 
the external pressure of the water would force the planks 
against the frames. Sometimes the decks forward and aft 
were raised, and a deck was laid on the low-lying beams 
amidships, on which, in such cases, the cargo was stowed. 
The cargo was covered with skins or some other substitute 
for tarpaulins, which were tied around it. The mode of 
construction of the hull, with the exceptions here noted, 
was essentially the same as in the warships. 

As in the longships, the sail in the trading-ships was 
square, but generally the mast was higher and the sail 
larger. The mast always remained in place. The sail was 
often of frieze, but in high-class vessels it was probably of 
canvas. Sometimes the sailM^as decorated with stripes of dif- 
ferent colors, a feature quite common in warships. The gen- 
eral appearance of trading-ships was probably very much 



58 THE VOYAGES OF 

like that of the so-called "Northland" boats {Nordlands- 
jaegter)^ now used in the northern part of Norway. Generally 
they were supplied with one large boat, called the "after- 
boat, " because it was often towed behind the ship, but 
during long sea voyages this boat was placed on top of the 
cargo aft of the mast. Frequently a smaller boat was carried 
in addition to the after-boat. 

The crew in trading-ships consisted usually of only ten to 
twelve men, but sometimes it was more numerous. On the 
exploring expeditions to Vinland there must have been about 
fifty men on board one ship in some cases. 

The seagoing capacity of these vessels was hardly infe- 
rior to that of later sailing-vessels of much larger size. Their 
great beam, their flat bottom, and their extremely light con- 
struction made them follow the wave slope without any ac- 
cumulation of rolling. They would rise readily to the waves 
and be little liable to ship great quantities of water under 
ordinary conditions of wind and sea. When they were not in 
use, they were generally drawn ashore on rollers and placed 
in a shed. 

The vessels used in the Vinland voyages during the early 
prosperous times of the Greenland colony were probably 
somewhat larger in general than the Gokstad ship, and may 
in several cases have been of about fifty tons displacement. 
This would give a cargo-carrying capacity of some fif- 
teen tons, or about thirty-three thousand pounds. On this 
weight there could be carried a crew of some forty to fifty 
men with provisions for about four weeks, besides live cattle 
with feed, tools, weapons, effects, etc., as was necessary for 
expeditions like those to Vinland. 

Due to the general decline of the Greenland settlements 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 59 

in the centuries following the early colonization, and also to 
the difficulties of obtaining timber and iron for the construc- 
tion of ships in Greenland, which difficulties increased with 
the decline of trade, it is likely that the vessels possessed by 
the Greenlanders during the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fif- 
teenth centuries were fewer in number, smaller, and of less 
perfect construction than those used in the Vinland voyages, 
which took place at the beginning of the eleventh century. 
Thus we learn that in 1189 a ship with fourteen men that 
came to Iceland from Greenland was fastened almost entirely 
by tree-nails and held together by cords, probably made from 
sinews or hides. Another ship, which is reported to have 
sailed to Markland as late as 1347, was not as large as the 
small Icelandic trading- vessels. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE NAVIGATION OF THE NORSEMEN 

THE ships of the Norsemen, having both sail and oar 
power, were really in a far better position in certain re- 
spects than the much larger sailing-vessels of later days, the 
propulsion of which was entirely dependent on the wind. 
The longships of the Norsemen were, in fact, much on the 
same footing as the modern fishing-cutter provided with 
some form of auxiliary motor. The Norse merchant ships 
suffered a disadvantage from their smaller number of oars; 
but these oars, nevertheless, enabled them to navigate with 
impunity near land under circumstances where modern sail- 
ing-ships would be exposed to great danger. The square 
rig would hardly permit much beating up against the wind, 
although it is likely that these vessels could sail with the 
wind somewhat forward of the beam . It appears that a boom 
with sheet was often used in such cases. 

It is of interest to examine what distance should be reck- 
oned for a day's [dsegr) sail, so often referred to in the sagas. 
Evidently, this was the way in which distances on the sea 
were indicated, for nowhere do we find distances given as 
such ; they are indicated either by so many days' sail or so 
many days' rowing. 

In the old sailing directions for voyages between Nor- 
way, Iceland, and Greenland, as given in Landndma Book, 
we find the following statements : ' ' From Stad in Norway 
is seven days' sail to Horn [Eystrahorn] on the east coast 
of Iceland." Stad is at the mouth of Nordfiord, and Horn 
is the southeastern cape of Iceland. The distance between 
these points is about five hundred and sixty miles, which 



62 THE VOYAGES OF 

gives a rate of eighty miles per day. "From Snsefellsness 
in Iceland to the nearest point of Greenland is four days' 
sail across the sea to the westward." The distance from 
Snaefellsness to Dan Cape (Kalerajuek) is three hundred 
and thirty miles, which gives eighty-three miles per day. 
"From Langaness in northern Iceland there are four days' 
sail northward to Svalbar5i in the sea-bay." By the term 
"sea-bay" {hafsbotn) is here meant the Arctic Sea between 
Greenland and Norway, for it was thought that Greenland 
was connected with and extended from northern Europe 
or Asia. (See Bjornbo's map of the world in Chapter V.) 
Whether we take Svalbar8i to mean Jan Mayen, or Cape 
Brewster on the coast of Greenland, we have a distance 
from Cape Langaness of about two hundred and eighty-five 
miles, which gives a day's sail equal to seventy-one miles. 
These statements give the location of Iceland relative to the 
nearest land to the east, west, and north. The number of 
days' sail southward to Ireland is also given, but as the 
statements on this point differ in various manuscripts (five 
days and three days), they will not here be used. In the 
Saga of Ola f the Sa'mt, it is told that Thorarin Nefjolfsson, 
in the year 1024, sailed from More in Norway to Eyrar (the 
present Eyrarbakki) in Iceland in eight days. The distance 
between these points being seven hundred and fifty miles, 
he must have made ninety-four miles a day. This was re- 
lated, however, as an exceptional and extraordinary achieve- 
ment. 

In order to determine the speed of the ships, wq must ex- 
amine the meaning of the word "day," which is a trans- 
lation of clsegr in the Icelandic text. We know positively 
that the dsegr on Thorarin's voyage, referred to above, M-as 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 63 

only twelve hours, and it is clearly so defined in Rymbegla. 
This would give a speed of 7.8 knots per hour for Tho- 
rarin's voyage, which is certainly a high average for such 
small ships as were used at that time, but not improbable. 
If we put the same interpretation upon the word daegr in 
the other cases above-mentioned, we arrive at an average 
speed of 6.7 knots. Even this speed is high and must cor- 
respond to very favorable conditions, but it is not unlikely 
that the Icelanders would use the ordinary maximum of 
a day's sail, about seventy-five miles, as a unit distance, 
since such a maximum is far more definite than the actual 
average of a day's sail on different voyages. 

Unfortunately, the meaning of the word daegr is not alto- 
gether certain, for there are some cases where it is meant to 
comprise twentj^-four hours. Thus, according to the man- 
uscripts AM 194 and AM 281, it took seven days to sail 
round Iceland, and the distance was reckoned to be four- 
teen tilfts.This gives two tilfts, or about one hundred and 
twenty miles, per day. Evidently, a day of twenty-four hours 
is meant in this case, which gives a speed of five knots per 
hour. 

On the whole, then, it seems reasonable to reckon a day's 
sail as about seventy-five miles for a daegr of twelve hours, 
and one hundred and fifty miles for a dsegr of twenty-four 
hours. The maximum average speed would thus be about 
six and one-quarter knots per hour. Since the Norse skip- 
pers used to indicate distances by the number of days' sail, 
it seems quite Hkely that the same mode of expression was 
used in the accounts of the Vinland voyages. When, there- 
fore, it is stated in these accounts that the explorers sailed 
a certain number of days from one point to another, such 



64 THE VOYAGES OF 

a statement should probably not be taken literally as a meas- 
ure of time, but should be understood to indicate a distance, 
as in the sailing directions. 

The ships of the Norsemen must have been liable to rapid 
drifting in heavy gales. Floating, as they did, like nutshells 
on the water, a drift of from fifty to eighty miles in twenty- 
four hours must have been of frequent occurrence in heavy 
weather. 

It appears, moreover, that the Norsemen of the eleventh 
and twelfth centuries did not use the compass. Directions 
on the sea were estimated by the sun in the daytime, and by 
the pole-star {leidarstjama) at night. Such determination, es- 
pecially by the sun, must have been very crude, and when 
the sky was overcast or the weather foggy, they could have 
had little or no notion of the direction in which they sailed. 
We have no account that they used any instruments for 
measuring the speed of the ship. Since, moreover, they seem 
to have had no charts, they cannot have attempted any 
accurate or systematic dead-reckoning. Any combination 
of courses and distances, where such w as attempted, was 
probably made by a purely mental process, but it is likely 
that they attained great skill in this respect. In the sagas we 
simply find it recorded that a ship sailed a certain num- 
ber of days in a certain direction, and frequently the direc- 
tion of the wind was given instead of the course. 

The direction, when indicating a course, was generally 
given only to the nearest cardinal point; thus, a southerly 
direction might mean anything from SW to SE. More- 
over, a confusion in the conception of the north-south direc- 
tion, or perhaps rather in its naming, is traceable in several 
cases. In at least two cases the Icelanders placed their north 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 65 

in the direction of our northeast. This might explain why 
the Greenlanders used the terms Eastern and Western Set- 
tlement about the two colonies, which were actually located 
on a line NNW-SSE. 

To judge from a passage in the Historia JVor'wegiae^ the 
Norsemen made some use of the lead. 

So far as we know, they did not attempt any accurate 
measurement of the height of the sun and the stars or their 
azimuth, but several statements in the sagas show that they 
were able to form a rough idea of the latitude by a crude ob- 
servation of the heavenly bodies, the significance of which 
they in any case appreciated. Thus, in the description of 
Leif's voyage in the Grsenlendinga pdttr, we find a remark 
which plainly shows that the Norsemen realized that a con- 
nection existed between the latitude and the azimuth of the 
sun at sunrise and sunset. This observation, and the terms 
eyktarstadrMiddagmdlastadr^ which occur in connection with 
it, will be discussed in a later chapter. It was recorded on 
the same voyage that night and day were in Vinland more 
nearly of equal length than was the case in Greenland and 
Iceland. We have already mentioned the crude observation 
of the sun's altitude which was made on the remarkable 
voyage of exploration to the northern part of Baffin Bay, 
undertaken by the Norsemen in 1266. 

It seems certain that the Norsemen were entirely without 
means of determining the longitude by astronomical obser- 
vations. We know from the sagas that in many cases ships 
drifted about on the ocean for several months, and under 
such circumstances it is clear that whatever dead-reckon- 
ing may have been attempted would soon become quite con- 
fused and useless, as would, for that matter, have been the 



66 THE VOYAGES OF 

case even had they possessed our modern means of deter- 
mining and recording courses and distances. Hence, while 
the Norsemen may have had some crude idea of latitude, 
they could have had no notion of whether they were in the 
western or the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean. Occa- 
sionally they might obtain some guidance in this respect 
from the appearance of certain birds, the presence of ice, or 
perhaps the color and temperature of the water. 

If the Norsemen were thus poorly equipped for navigat- 
ing on the high sea, they were the better fitted for navigating 
along the coasts. As has been explained above, their ships 
could, without great danger, approach the land; by their 
shallow draft they would generally avoid sunken dangers, 
and their oar-power enabled them to explore the fiords and 
bays without difficulty, and to seek shelter or go to sea when 
on a lee shore. In the exploration of unknown regions the 
Norsemen would, therefore, naturally prefer coastwise navi- 
gation wherever possible. As soon, however, as a knowledge 
of courses and distances had been acquired, they would 
not hesitate to sail across the sea. In fact, as pointed out by 
Nansen,* the Norsemen are the first on record in the his-i 
tory of the world to sail out deliberately on the open ocean.' 
They went first from Denmark and Norway to England 
and Scotland, then from Norway to Iceland, from Iceland 
to Greenland, until finally they achieved crossing the ocean 
directly from Norway to Greenland four or five centuries 
before such a feat was accomplished by any other people. 
The first voyage of this nature of which we have any know- 
ledge is that of Leif, who, probably in the year 1000, sailed 
from Norway to Greenland, on which voyage it appears 

*In Korthern Mists, New York, 1911, II, 233. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 67 

that he incidentally touched on the coast of America. Dur- 
ing the following centuries the direct navigation between 
Norway and Greenland, although always considered as 
difficult and dangerous, became firmly established, and 
crude sailing directions were developed. Thus we find in 
JIauk'' s Book the foWowing directions: "FromHernar [near 
Bergen] in Norway sail due West to Hvarf [near Cape 
Farewell] in Greenland, and then you will sail north of Het- 
land [Shetland] , still so that you can just see it in clear 
weather; but south of the Faroe Islands, so that only half 
the height of the mountains are visible above the sea [hori- 
zon] ; but go south of Iceland so [?.<?., so near] that birds 
and whales are seen." 

Ordinarily, the navigation of the Norsemen depended on 
the presence of men who, having made the voyage previ- 
ously, knew the waters and the coasts in question. In other 
words, the navigation was based on the pilot system, which 
under these circumstances, in the absence of charts, detailed 
and accurate sailing directions, and all instruments of navi- 
gation, must have been developed to a high degree of per- 
fection. The quality which must be particularly attained in 
pilots is, next to a familiarity with seamanship in general, 
an intimate knowledge of the seas and coasts within their 
region of pilotage. Pilots must know the shoals, rocks, and 
other dangers of the coast; they must know the tides and 
currents, the climatic conditions, when and where to expect 
fogs and ice; and they must possess or develop a special 
aptitude for remembering and recognizing the general con- 
tours of the land and its topographical features. Though 
pilots are still found everywhere, they are now mostly limited 
in their work to certain localities ; if sometimes they act 



68 THE VOYAGES OF 

over greater districts and seas, they are called "coasting 
pilots." In old Norse times such men may not have made 
pilotage their profession, as is now the case, but their ser- 
vices would nevertheless have been necessary and much 
sought after. Thus when Bjarni {FB) was about to sail 
from Iceland to Greenland, he said to his men: "Unwise 
may our voyage appear, since none of us have been in the 
Greenland Sea before." 

The presence on Karlsefni's expedition {ER) of Thor- 
hall Hunter points in the same direction. Thorhall, we 
are told, was well acquainted with the unsettled regions 
[ubygdir)^ which term in this case probably refers to the 
northern parts of West-Greenland, but perhaps also to Hel- 
luland. Thorhall was evidently a Nordrseta-man, familiar 
with dangerous navigation in unknown regions, and, as 
described later, Karlsefni's expedition sailed first to the 
Western Settlement and thence to Bjarneyar before it set 
out for the voyage across Davis Strait. 

It seems likely that in the voyages of the Norsemen to 
America, after its coasts had been first accidentally discov- 
ered, the leaders of the expeditions would always try to ob- 
tain very accurate descriptions and directions from earlier 
travellers, and, if possible, secure men from the ship-crews 
that had previously visited the new land. Thus we see in 
the GrsBJilendinga pdttr thatThorvald, before his departure, 
consulted with Leif about the voyage. 

In judging of the possible and probable achievements of 
the Norsemen as explorers, we must bear in mind that the 
primitiveness of their resources as navigators was counter- 
balanced by their enterprising spirit, their boldness, and 
their extraordinary endurance, qualities which were com- 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 69 

bined with a natural aptitude, developed through centuries, 
for Hfe on the sea. 

We conclude this chapter with a brief abstract from the 
Flbamanna Saga* which deals with the life of a famous Ice- 
lander, Thorgils Orrabeinsfostri, and we shall, in particu- 
lar, describe some of Thorgils's voyages, which took place 
from 998 to 1005. These voyages give a vivid idea of the 
dangers and hardships of ocean navigation, and especially 
the navigation to Greenland, in early days. Like many other 
Icelanders, Thorgils had been a viking during a certain 
period of his youth. He did not, however, molest peaceful 
farmers or merchants, but on the contrary fought and de- 
stroyed many of the rovers who then harried the coasts. In 
fact, Thorgils all through his life was the enemy of violence 
and injustice, and the protector of the weak. 

At the time when the tale begins, Thorgils had lived 
quietly in Iceland for thirteen years, and had adopted the 
Christian faith. He then received and accepted an invitation 
from his old friend Eric the Red to go and settle in Green- 
land. He bought a ship and sailed from Faxafiord with a fair 
wind, probably in the year 998. On board the ship were 
Thorgils's wife Thorey, several other freemen and women, 
and a number of thralls, in all twenty-two persons. The ship 
also carried live stock of various kinds. 

Soon after they left Iceland, the wind changed, they had 
much heavy weather, and drifted about on the sea for sev- 
eral months. They ran short of food and drink. About the 
middle of October they stranded on the east coast of Green- 
land in a sandy bay. The ship broke in two in the middle, 
but the crew and the cargo as well as the boat were saved. 
*GHM,\\. 



70 THE VOYAGES OF 

Huge glaciers projected on each side of the bay and dense 
masses of ice drifted past the outside, ordinarily barring the 
entrance. 

The shipwrecked people built a large hut and made prep- 
arations for the winter. They had a little flour left, but other- 
wise no provisions. Most of their live stock soon died and 
they had to live on seals. Early in the winter Thorey gave 
birth to a boy, who was given the name of Thorfinn. Thorey 
suflfered much and was not properly nourished by the food 
that could be provided for her. During the winter Thorgils 
found it difficult to control the men, who were noisy and 
unruly. Sickness carried away one man after another, and 
there were many outbreaks of insanity. The condition was 
much aggravated by superstition, which made them feel 
haunted by ghosts. Once they heard a loud knocking on the 
door. One of the men said : ' ' Now we shall hear good news, ' ' 
and went outside, but he at once became raving mad and died 
in the morning. The next evening another of the men be- 
came insane ; he said he saw the one who had just died run- 
ning towards him. About Christmas six men died, and by 
the beginning of March only a small number survived. The 
ghosts haunted them worse than ever, and specially afflicted 
Thorgils. Finally, he bade his men dig up and burn all the 
dead bodies previously buried in the sand, whereupon the 
apparitions ceased. 

Next summer they obtained a great deal of food, but the 
ice prevented all attempts at leaving. The second winter 
passed, spring came, and there was still no chance to escape. 
Thorey was in bed most of the time, suffering much, but 
suckling the child. One day, when the weather was fair, 
Thorgils said he would go up on the glaciers to see whether 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 71 

the ice had commenced to break. Thorey objected to his 
leaving her, but he answered that he would not go very far ; 
the thralls would go out fishing, and Thorarin, a trusted 
servant, would stay with her. The other freemen, Thorleif, 
Kol, and Starkad, asked permission to go withThorgils, but 
he remarked that there would not then be sufficient defence 
for the house, since the thralls were not to be relied upon. 
Still, they all went up on the glaciers. On their return in the 
afternoon a storm arose and they were delayed. They came 
to the house, but did not see the boat. On entering, they 
found that the men had departed with all the chests. Then 
said Thorgils : ' ' Something evil has happened here ; ' ' but 
when they went farther into the house they heard a rattling 
sound from Thorey 's bed, and coming nearer they saw that 
she was dead and that the child was nursing at the breast 
of his dead mother. On closer examination they found that 
under one of her arms there was a small deep wound, which 
seemed to have been produced with the point of a knife, and 
everything around the wound was soaked in blood. This 
sight almost broke the heart of Thorgils, and gave him the 
greatest sorrow he had ever suifered. All the provisions were 
gone. During the night Thorgils would watch over the child, 
although he admitted that he did not see how the child could 
be kept alive, and yet, he said, "It would be hard for me 
if I could not save the boy. Now, I will first try to cut one 
of the glands in my breast." This was done and he nursed 
the child. At first blood came out, then a mixed fluid, but 
they did not stop till milk issued, by which the child was 
nourished. 

Thorgils and the three men that were left now set to 
work to build a skin-boat on frames of wood, and finally 



72 THE VOYAGES OF 

succeeded in getting away. They reached a point farther 
south on the coast, where they spent the following winter. 

Gradually, and under incredible hardships, they worked 
their way down the coast, past the walls of glaciers, and 
across the ice-laden fiords. On several occasions they met 
Eskimos, whom they took to be supernatural beings. One 
morning, after having spent the night in a tent on the beach, 
they found that the boat had disappeared, probably having 
been stolen by the Eskimos. One after another of the men 
went out of the tent, discovered that the boat was gone, 
but returned without saying anything about it to Thorgils. 
At last Thorgils himself went out and found the boat miss- 
ing. He exclaimed in despair : " I see now no help for it but 
that the boy must be killed." The other men protested, and 
said that he would bitterly regret it if it was done, but he 
ordered them to take the child outside and kill him. They 
departed, but did not carry out the order ; they thought that 
Thorgils would soon change his mind, and that it would 
then cause him the greatest sorrow if the}^ had killed the 
boy. After a while they returned, leaving the boy outside. 
Thorgils asked them if they had done away with him, but 
they said that they had not. Then Thorgils thanked them 
most heartily ; the boy was brought back, and he remained 
with Thorgils during the night. Later the Eskimos returned 
the boat and Thorgils and his men sailed away. 

On another occasion they were brought to the utmost 
straits for lack of drinking-water. Finall}^, after many ad- 
ventures, they reached the Eastern Settlement, four years 
after they had sailed from Iceland. 

The account of Thorgils 's stay in Greenland, how he 
fought some vikings who at that time harried the coast, 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 73 

and how he captured their ships, is most interesting, but is 
outside the scope of this work. We shall here mention only 
one episode. During the winter a bear preyed upon the 
cattle of the colony and did much damage. One day Thor- 
gils was in a storehouse trading with some men. Thorfinn 
was with him. He said : "Father ! there is a big, beautiful 
dog outside." Thorgils replied: "Don't mind that, but 
stay within." In spite of his father's warning, however, he 
ran out, and the bear at once sprang at him and threw him 
down. Hearing screams, Thorgils rushed from the house 
with his sword and found the animal playing with the boy. 
Thorgils struck it between the ears and cleft its head, so 
that it fell dead. He grasped the child, who had suffered no 
serious injury. For this deed Thorgils was much honored, 
but Eric the Red did not approve of it, because, being a 
heathen, he paid to the bear a sort of cult. On the whole, 
Thorgils did not get on well with his former friend Eric. 
He abandoned the idea of settling in Greenland, and sailed 
away the next spring after his arrival at the Eastern Set- 
tlement. The wind carried them to the west coast of Ire- 
land, where they spent the winter. The next fall, after a long 
and hard voyage, they reached Halogaland, in the northern 
part of Norway. Here the keel of the ship broke and was 
lost. The ship was repaired, and, after another adventure in 
which Thorgils killed a dangerous highwayman, he again 
went to sea, bound for Iceland. 

They had heavy weather but favorable winds until they 
came within sight of Iceland. Then a severe northerly gale, 
which lasted twelve days, drove them southward, where- 
upon a heavy gale from the south drove them back again 
towards the coast of Iceland. Thorgils now wished to take in 



74 VOYAGES OF THE NORSEMEN 

the sail; he had worked two days bailing the sea-water, as 
eight great waves had broken over the ship. One of the men 
offered to take his turn at bailing, when the ninth wave, 
the largest of all, went over the ship. It hurled Thorgils 
off the beam nearest the bail compartment, tore Thorfinn 
away from his lap, and carried the child overboard. Then 
said Thorgils: "Now the wave has passed over us, which 
makes it needless to bail any more." But the wave carried 
the boy back into the ship; he was still alive and said : 
' ' Now the combers are getting to be rather heavy, father! ' ' 
Thorgils said: "Now, bail, whoever can!" So they did, and 
soon all the water was bailed out of the ship. But that same 
day the boy began to throw up blood, and two days after he 
died. Then they saw land, and soon put into port at Arnar- 
basli in Iceland. 

For four days Thorgils took neither food nor rest; he said 
he could not blame the women when they loved the children 
whom they had nursed better than any one else. Thorgils 
would not part with the dead body of his son, and would 
not allow it to be buried, but by a ruse his friends made 
him leave the body for a while, pretending that his step- 
father needed his assistance in a quarrel. Thorgils's friends 
now brought the dead body to the churchyard, where they 
buried it. At first Thorgils was very angry, but soon became 
reconciled. He then went back to his estate at Tradarholt, 
and there he remained. 



CHAPTER V 

THE ACCOUNTS OF THE VINLAND VOYAGES 

THE object of this chapter is, first to present a connected 
account of the voyages, and second to aiford a basis for 
a critical investigation and comparison of the sources, and 
for a discussion of the views advanced by various writers. 

The earHest reference to Vinland is found in Adam of 
Bremen's Descriptio Insulanim Aquilonis^ often referred to 
as Liber de Situ Danix. This reference is brief, but coming 
from a source which is entirely independent of the Icelandic 
sagas, and dating from less than one hundred years after 
the occurrence of the events which it mentions, it possesses 
great historic interest. Adam occupied a position under the 
Archbishop of Bremen and Hamburg, who at that time, 
about 1070, was the spiritual head of the Scandinavian 
countries. Adam received his information about Vinland dur- 
ing a visit to the court of the Danish King, Svend Estrid- 
son. The passage of his work which is of interest in this 
connection is here given in full. 

"Besides Iceland, there are many other islands in the 
great ocean, of which Greenland is not the smallest; it lies 
farther away in the ocean. To this island it is said that one 
can sail from the coast of the Normans [z.*?., Norway] in 
from five to seven days. It is said that Christianity has re- 
cently spread to them. Moreover he [the King of Denmark] 
said that an island had been found by many in this ocean, 
which has been called Finland, because there vines grow 
wild and bear good grapes. Moreover, that there is self- 
sown grain in abundance, we learned, not from mythical 
tales, but from reliable accounts of the Danes. Beyond this 



76 THE VOYAGES OF 

island, said he [the King] , no habitable land is found. But 
all beyond is full of dreadful masses of ice and bound- 
less fog. About this Marcianus has said: 'One day's sail 
beyond Thule the sea is frozen solid.' This was verified 
recently by the very experienced King of the Norwegians, 
Harald [Haardraade] . When with his ships he explored 
the borders of the northern ocean, he turned back when the 
boundaries were lost in fogs before the entrance to the end 
of the world, and he escaped with the utmost difficulty the 
immense gulf of the abyss." 

The Islendinga Book^ written by Ari Erode about 1130, 
contains the earliest mention of Vinland in Icelandic litera- 
ture. The passage* is of great interest and importance, 
since the source of information was Ari's uncle, Thorkel 
Gellisson , who lived in the second half of the eleventh cen- 
tury, and who "remembered far back." 

"That country, which is called Greenland, was discov- 
ered and settled from Iceland. Eric the Red was the name 
of the man from BreiSifiord, who went from here thither, 
and took possession of that land, which has since been called 
Ericsfiord. He gave a name to the country, and called it 
Greenland, and said that it Avould encourage people to go 
there if the country had a good name. They found there, 
both east and west in the country, the dwellings of men, 
and fragments of boats, and stone implements, from which 
it can be seen that that kind of people had been there who 
occupied {Jiejir bygi) Finland^ whom the Greenlanders call 
Skrselings. And this was, when he commenced to settle in 
the country, fourteen or fifteen winters before Christianity 
was introduced here in Iceland, according to what Thorkel 

*GHM,l, 168. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 77 

Gellisson was told in Greenland [by a man] who himself 
accompanied Eric thither." 

In the oldest text of Landndma Book^ we find an account 
of an Icelandic chieftain, Ari Marsson : "He was driven 
across the sea by heavy gales to Hvitramannaland, which by 
some is called ' Great Ireland.' It lies westward in the sea 
near Finland the Good. It is said that one can sail thither 
in six days. Ari could not escape thence, and was baptized 
there. This was first told by Hrafn Hlymreksfari, who had 
been long himself in Hlymrek [Limerick] in Ireland. Thor- 
kel Gellisson stated also that Icelanders had told, according 
to what they had heard from Thorfinn, Earl of the Orkneys, 
that Ari had been seen and recognized in Hvitramannaland^ 
from which he was not allowed to depart, but that he was 
otherwise held in great esteem there." 

In the long Saga of Olaf Tr-yggvason^ which is based on 
Gunnlaugr Leifsson's Olafs Saga written about the year 
1200,* we read: 

That same summer the King [Olaf Tryggvason] sent 
Gizur and Hjalti to Iceland, as has already been written. At 
that time he also sent Leif Ericsson to Greenland to preach 
Christianity there. The King sent with him a priest and 
some other holy men to baptize the people there, and to teach 
them the true faith. Leif went to Greenland that same sum- 
mer. He took on the sea [on board his vessel] a ship's crew, 
who were at that time in great distress and were lying on 
a completely broken wreck, and on that same voyage he found 
Finland the Good.f He arrived in Greenland late in the sum- 
mer, and went home to Brattahlid to his father Eric. People 
afterwards called him Leif the Lucky, but his father Eric 

*GHM, II, 224-227. t Italicized by tlie author. 



78 THE VOYAGES OF 

said that Leif's having rescued a ship's crew and restored 
the men to life might be balanced against the fact that he 
had brought the impostor {skemanninn) ^ as he called the 
priest, to Greenland. Nevertheless, through Leif's advice 
and persuasion, Eric was baptized, and all of the people of 
Greenland." 

In Kristni Saga* which dates from the thirteenth cen- 
tury, we read: "That summer King Olaf went abroad and 
south to Vendland . Then he also sent Leif Ericsson to Green- 
land to preach Christianity there. Then Leif found Finland 
the Good. He also found men on a shipwreck. Therefore, he 
was called Leif the Lucky." 

In the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason mHeimskringla,'\ Snorri 
writes: "That same winter [999-1000] Leif, a son of Eric 
the Red, was with King Olaf, in high esteem, and had 
adopted Christianity. But that summer, when Gizur went 
to Iceland, King Olaf sent Leif to Greenland in order to 
preach Christianity there, and he departed thence at once. 
He found men on a shipwreck in the sea and saved them. 
Then he discovered also V inland the Good., and came in the 
fall to Greenland ; he had brought with him a priest and 
other learned men {kennimenn) ., and went to Brattahlid, to 
his father Eric, in order to live there. Thereafter people called 
him Leif the Lucky. But his father Eric then said that one 
would balance the other, that he had saved a ship's crew in 
distress, and that he had brought the impostor {skemanninn) 
to Greenland, by whom he meant the priest." 

In the Arnamagnaean collection in Copenhagen is found 
a manuscript, ^71/194, probably dating from the end of the 
fourteenth century, which contains a geographical descrip- 

* GHM, II, 232. t Ibid., II, 230. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 79 

tion. The part here quoted is beheved to be due to Abbot 
Nicolas of Thingeyri, who died in 1159:* 

"South of Greenland is Helluland; then comes Mark- 
land; then it is not far to Finland the Good, which some think 
extends from Africa ; and if this be so, the outer ocean must 
separate Vinland and Markland. It is told that Thorfinn 
Karlsefni cut wood for a house ornament, and later went to 
find Finland the Good, and came where they thought this 
land should be, but they did not get time to explore it, and 
obtained none of the good things of the land. Leif the Lucky 
first found Finland, and then he found some merchants in 
distress on the sea, and by God's mercy he saved their lives, 
and he introduced Christianity into Greenland, and it spread, 
so that a bishop's see was established at the place called 
GarSar." 

In the Eyrbyggja Saga, written down about 1250, occurs 
the following paragraph"]" concerning some of the partners 
in an expedition to Vinland with Karlsefni, described here- 
after (ER) : 

"After peace had been concluded between the Eyrbyggja 
men and the Alptafiord men, Thorbrand's sons Snorri and 
Thorleif Kimbe went to Greenland. From the latter Kim- 
bavogr in Greenland takes its name ; it lies between gla- 
ciers. Thorleif settled in Greenland and lived there till old 
age, but Snorri went with Karlsefni to Finland the Good. 
They fought with the Skrselings there in Vinland. There fell 
Thorbrand, Snorri' s son, one of the bravest of men." The 
account of Bjorn Asbrandson's adventures, given m Eyr- 
byggja Saga, is here omitted, being considered of little or no 
historic value so far as it concerns the discovery of America. 

*GHM,lll,22Q. f Ibid., I, 717. 



80 THE VOYAGES OF 

In the Gj'ettir's Saga,* written down about 1290, are two 
references to an Icelander, Thorhall Gamlason, who, as will 
be seen hereafter, likewise took part in Karlsefni's expedi- 
tion to Vinland (EB) , whereafter he was given the surname 
Finlendingr, spelled somewhat differently in the saga. These 
passages are as follows: 

"Rannveig was the name of another daughter of As- 
mund; she married Gamli, the son of Thorhall Findlend- 
mgr; they lived in Melar in Hrutafiord." 

"Thorir was the name of a man, the son of Thorkel 
in Bordeyri, Thorir lived first at Melar in Hrutafiord. His 
daughter was Helga, who married Sleitu-Helgi. After the 
fight at Fagrabrekka, Thorir moved south to Haukadal 
and lived at Skard, but sold the land at Melar to Thorhall 
Gamlason Findlendingr. His son was Gamli, he married 
Rannveig, daughter of Asmund the Grey-haired ('Long- 
hoary') sister of Grettir." 

Detailed accounts of the Vinland voyages are found only 
in the Saga of Erie the Red, dating from the thirteenth cen- 
tury, and in the Flatey Book, from the fourteenth century. 
The abstract of these two accounts, A\hich now follows, 
is in general a complete translation, only those parts being 
omitted which do not directly concern the voyages. The 
translation keeps close to the Icelandic text, and is verbally 
exact in all cases where that is believed to be necessary for 
our later critical discussion. f Variants to the text are given 
only when necessitated by the following discussion. 



* G7-ettis Saga asmundarsonar , eel. R. C. Boer, Halle, 1900, pp. 39, 114. 

t Foi- a complete ti-anslation of these accounts into English, tlie reader is re- 
ferred to the work of Reeves, The Finding of Wineland the Good. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 81 

FROM THE FLATEY BOOK 

The Flatey Book* is found in the Royal Library in Copen- 
hagen. It contains a collection of the sagas of Norwegian 
kings, and several poems and shorter tales about events in 
and out of Norway, together with annals. It was composed 
during the years from 1387 to 1395, partly by the priest Jon 
]:>6rdarson, who wrote the account here given. The first pas- 
sage about Leif, as well as the account of Bjarni's voyage, 
are found under the heading "Story of Eric the Red." f 

Leif the Lucky is Baptized % 

When sixteen wdnters had passed after the time when Eric 
the Red went over to settle Greenland, then Eric's son Leif 
went from Greenland to Norway; he arrived in Trondhjem 
[district] the same fall that King Olaf Tryggvason came 
from the north, from Halogaland. Leif went with his ship 
to Nidaros (the city of Trondhjem) , and went at once to 
King Olaf. The King preached the faith for Leif as for 
other heathens who caiTie to him. It was easy for the King to 
influence Leif , who was christened together with all his men. 
Leif spent the winter with the King and was well treated. 

Bjarni's Voyage § 

Bjarni was a young, promising, and successful merchant. 
He owned his own ship and traded in foreign lands. He 
used to spend every second winter with his father, Herjulf, 
in Iceland, but the last winter that Bjarni was in Norway 
Herjulf prepared to go to Greenland with Eric the Red. 

*Ed. Vigfusson and Unger, Kristiania, 1860-68; cf. GHM. 

\ Flatey jarbok, pp. 429-432. 

X GHM, I, 206. § Ibid., I, 208. 




82 THE VOYAGES OF 

Upon the ship with Herjulf was a Christian man from the 
Hebrides. He composed the H afgerdinga Drdpa, which con- 
tains this stave : 

"My voyage to the Meek One, 
Monk-heart-searcher [Christ], I commit now; 
The Lord of Heaven shall hold the hawk's seat [the hand] 
Over me forever 1 ' ' 

Herjulf settled in Herjulfness in Greenland and was a very 
distinguished man. When Bjarni came to Eyrar in Iceland 
in the summer, he learned that his father had already gone 
in the spring to settle in Greenland. 

Bjarni now determined not to unload his ship, and when 
his men asked him what he was going to do, he answered that 
he intended as usual to spend the winter with his father, and 
"I will," he said, " go to Greenland with myship,if you are 
willing to go with me." They all said that they were ready 
to do as he advised, whereupon he said : "Unwise may our 
voyage appear, since none of us have been in the Greenland 
Sea before. ' ' Nevertheless, they sailed out on the sea as soon 
as they were ready, and sailed for three days, until the land 
disappeared under the water ; but then they got a calm and 
thereafter they got northerly winds and fogs. They did not 
know where they were, and so it went on for many days. 
Finally, they saw the sun again, and they could tell the direc- 
tions ; they hoisted their sail and sailed that day, before they 
saw land. Bjarni did not think that this land was Green- 
land ; they sailed close up to the land and saw that it had no 
mountains, and that it was covered with woods and had 
low hills. They left the land on their port side, and let the 
sheet turn towards the land. After that {sidan) they sailed 
two days, before they saw a second land. Bjarni did not be- 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 83 

lieve this land to be Greenland either, since there were said 
to be great glaciers in Greenland. They soon approached 
this land and saw that it was flat and wooded. Then they 
were becalmed, and the crew thought it most advisable to 
land, but Bjarni refused. The men pretended that they 
lacked both fuel and water. Bjarni said : " You do not lack 
any of these things ; ' ' but he was blamed for this by his 
men. They hoisted the sail, turned the stern from the shore, 
and sailed out on the open sea with a southwesterly wind 
for three days. Then they saw a third land, and this land 
was high, covered with mountains and glaciers. The men 
asked if Bjarni would land here, but he said that he would 
not, ' ' for this land does not appear to me to be good to live 
in." Hence they did not lower their sail, but kept going 
along the coast, and saw that it was an island. They turned 
again the stern to the land, and sailed out on the sea with 
the same wind; but the wind increased in strength, and 
Bjarni ordered that the sail should be shortened, and they 
should not sail harder than their ship and rigging could 
stand. They now sailed on for four days, when they sighted 
a distant land. The men asked Bjarni if he thought this was 
Greenland or not. Bjarni said: "This is most like Green- 
land, according to what I have been told of it, and here we 
will steer to the land. ' ' They did so, and landed in the even- 
ing on a headland (ness) where there was a boat. On this 
headland lived Bjarni's father, Herjulf ; from whom it was 
given the name Herjulfness. Bjarni went now to his father, 
gave up sailing, and remained with his father during the 
latter's lifetime, and lived there afterwards. 



84 THE VOYAGES OF 

, Leif's Vofage from Norway to Greenland 

The account of this voyage is inserted in the Saga of Olaf 
Tryggvason* and is entirely disconnected from Bj ami's 
voyage, which is found earlier in the Flatey Book, as w^ell as 
from the Grsenlendinga pdttr, which is found later. The pas- 
sage is practically identical with that given in the long Saga 
of Olaf Tryggvason quoted above, except that the sentence, 
and on that same voyage he found Finland the Good, ' ' is 
here omitted. 

Leif Ericsson's Voyage of Exploration to Vinland 

The following account of the whole series of the Vinland 
voyages is inserted in the Flatey Book in the Saga of Earl 
Enc.'\ 

Here begins Grsenlendinga pdttr 

It is now next to this j that Bjarni Herjulfsson came from 
Greenland [to Norway] and visited Earl Eric, and the Earl 
received him well. Bjarni told about his voyages and about 
his discovery of unknown lands. People thought he had not 
been keen, as he had nothing to tell about these lands, and 
for this he was blamed. Bjarni became a yeoman {hirdmadr) 
of the earl, and returned to Greenland the following sum- 
mer. There was now much talk of explorations. Leif, a son 
of Eric the Red, from Brattahlid, went to Bjarni Herjulfs- 
son, bought his ship, and hired a crew for it, so that they 
were in all thirty-five men. Leif vainly attempted to make 
his father join the expedition. § On the expedition was a 
German, by name Tyrker. After having fitted out the ship 

* Flateyjarbok, p. 448. f Ibid., pp. 538-549; GHM, I, 214. 

X pat er nu pessu mest. § This event is described at lengtli in the saga. 






^^-it^ nortr ^wt hOftfl^ cr-tna- ^to'^pwy pafidiirr 
(hr tt «^*r e^ itin tuwir*jr§a^^ dfcrtnA dr ike fe«rm"a 

^, ^mfMi^'j(^^|>o?vcjJn1t!te-»rm^c^ 

6 ^ l^diid^ l>li^ ^oj Aftmh l»iirne^ ^wilpf l&n ^>4!»pcr ^ 
-ma t^'lcif tfbi^ifef o^ttrcm* dtj iSi^ en ^i^k ^4 

wc^ltcill tojra dte^U Irttdu 3^J>ffift let oni^cpt if 3. wdj 1> 



i^r*^ Page of the Grxnlendinga pattr 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 85 

for the voyage, they sailed out on the sea, and found first the 
land which Bjarni had seen last. They sailed to the land, 
anchored, put out the boat, and went ashore. No grass grew 
there, and great glaciers were seen inland, while the coast 
between the glaciers and the sea looked like one large, flat 
stone,* and this land did not seem to them to have any value. 
Then said Leif : ' ' Now it has gone better with us than with 
Bjarni, who came here and did not go ashore ; noM^ I will 
give this land a name and call it Helluland." 

After that they went on board the ship, sailed out on the 
sea, and found another land. They sailed again to the land, 
anchored, put out the boat, and went ashore. This land was 
flat and covered with woods, and there were extensive white 
sands, wherever they went, and the beach was not steep. f 
Then said Leif: " This land shall be named according to 
its nature and it shall be called Markland." After that they 
went as soon as possible to the ship, and sailed out on the 
open sea with a northeast wind, and were on the sea two 
days before they saw land. They went ashore on an island 
to the north of the land. It was fine weather. They looked 
round and noticed that there was dew on the grass. This 
dew was found to have a very sweet taste. After that they 
went on board the ship and sailed into the sound between 
the island and a cape which stretched northward from the 
coast, and steered westward past the cape. The water was 
so shallow there that the ship ran aground and stood dry at 
ebb-tide ; the sea was then visible only at a great distance. 
But Leif and his men were so anxious to get ashore that 
they did not care to wait till the water rose again under their 

* En sem ein hella veeri allt til joklanna frd sjonum. 
t Ok sandar h-vitir -vida, par sem peirforu, ok osaebratt. 



86 THE VOYAGES OF 

ship, and they ran ashore at once where a river flowed out 
from a lake. At next high tide they took the boat, pulled 
to the ship, and took it up through the river into the lake, 
anchored, and carried their leather bags ashore. They first 
built wooden huts (sheds), but later they decided to prepare 
to remain there during the winter, and they built then large 
houses. 

Salmon, larger than they had seen before, were plentiful 
in the river and the lake. The land seemed to them so good 
that there would be no need of storing fodder for the cattle 
for the winter; there came no frost in the winters and the 
grass withered but little. Day and night were there more 
nearly of equal length than is the case in Greenland and 
Iceland; the sun had there eyktarstadr and dagnidlastaJbr* oxi 
the shortest day of the year. When they had built the house, 
Leif said to his men: "Now I will divide our party into 
two halves and explore the land; and one half of the men 
shall remain at the house, while the other half shall exam- 
ine the country, but shall not go farther than to let them 
be back in the evening, and they must never part from one 
another." They did so for some time, and Leif was alter- 
nately one day with the exploring party, the other day at 
the house. Leif was a fine, strong man, of impressive per- 
sonality, and moreover intelligent and wise. 

It was found one night that one of their men was miss- 
ing, and that was Tyrker Southman.f Leif was much 
troubled by this, for Tyrker had been for a long time with 
him and his father, and had been very fond of Leif in his 
childhood. Leif now reprimanded his men severely, and pre- 

* These terms are explained and discussed in Chapter XI. 
t Sudrniadr, i.e., a. German. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 87 

pared to go in search of him with twelve men. But when 
they were only a short distance from the house, they were 
met by Tyrker, whom they received with great joy. Leif 
saw at once that his foster-father was queer. Tyrker had 
a high forehead and restless eyes ; he was freckled in the 
face and small of stature, but adept in all sorts of handi- 
craft. Then Leif said to him: " Why were you so late, fos- 
ter-father, and why did you part from the others? ' ' Then at 
first he spoke in German for a long time, and rolled his eyes, 
and twisted his mouth when they did not understand what 
he said. After some time he spoke in the Norse tongue: "I 
did not go much farther, and yet I have discovered some- 
thing new; I found vinvid and vinher* "Can this be true, 
foster-father?" said Leif. "Certainly, this is true," said 
he, "for I was born where there is no lack of either vinvid 
or vinber.'*'' They now slept that night, but in the morning 
Leif said to his men: ' ' We will now divide our labors, and 
each day we will either gather vinber or cut vinvid and fell 
trees, so as to obtain a cargo of these for my ship."f This 
advice was followed. It is said that their after-boat was filled 
with vinber. A cargo was now cut for the ship, and when the 
spring came, they made ready and sailed away, and Leif 
gave the land a name in accordance with its products, and 
called it Finland. 

Then they sailed out on the sea, and had a fair wind, 
until they sighted Greenland and the mountains below the 
glaciers. Then one of the men spoke up and said to Leif: 
"Why do you steer the ship so much into the wind?" 

* These terms are discussed in a later chapter. 

\ JVu skal hafa tvennar syslur fram, ok skal sinn dag Irvort, lesa -vinber, 

edr hoggva vinvid ok fella morkina, sva at pat verdi farmr til skifis mins. 



88 THE VOYAGES OF 

Leif answered: "I have my mind upon my steering, but 
on other matters as well. Do you not see something out of 
the common?" They said that they did not see anything 
strange. "I do not know," said Leif, "whether I see a 
ship or a skerry." Now they discovered it, and said that it 
was a skerry; but he was so much keener of sight than 
they that he could see men on the skerry. "Now I will keep 
close to the wind," said Leif, "so that we can get nearer to 
them, in case they should need our assistance; but if they 
should not be peaceably disposed, we are still in a better 
position than they are, since we are able to do as we please. ' ' 
They now sailed up to the skerry, lowered their sail, an- 
chored, and put out a second small boat, which they had 
brought with them. Then Tyrker asked them who was their 
chieftain. He said his name was Thorer, and that he was 
a Norwegian. "But what is your name?" Leif gave his 
name. "Are you son of Eric the Red, from Brattahlid?" 
asked he. Leif said that he was. "I will now," said Leif, 
"take you all on board my ship, and as much of the goods 
as the ship can hold." They accepted this offer, and then 
sailed with this cargo to Ericsfiord and up to Brattahlid, 
where they unloaded the ship. Then Leif invited Thorer 
and his wife Gudrid, together with three others, to stay with 
him, and procured quarters for all the other men. Leif res- 
cued fifteen persons from the skerry; he was afterwards 
called Leif the Lucky [hinn heppni) . Leif had thus gained 
both wealth and honor. That winter serious illness broke 
out in Thorer's party, and Thorer and a great many of his 
people died. Eric the Red died also that winter. 

Now there was much talk of Leif's Vinland voyage, and 
his brother Thorvald thought that the land had not been suf- 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 89 

ficiently explored. Then said Leif to Thorvald : "You may 
go with my ship, brother, if you so wish, to Vinland, but 
I wish to have the ship fetch first the timber w^hich Thorer 
had on the skerry." And so it was done. 

Thorvald's Voyage 

Now Thorvald, with thirty men, prepared for this voyage, 
and consulted with his brother Leif about it. Thereafter they 
made the ship ready, and sailed out to sea ; and nothing is 
told of their voyage before they came to Leifsbooths in Vin- 
land. They laid up their ship there, and remained quietly 
during the winter, and lived by fishing. But in the spring 
Thorvald said that they should put their ship in order, and 
that some men should take the after- (large) boat and sail 
along the western coast (or west of the land),* and explore 
there during the summer. They found the country beau- 
tiful and wooded, and there was only a short distance be- 
tween the woods and the sea, and there were white sands. 
There were many islands, and the water was very shallow. 
They found nowhere any human dwellings or animals, 
except on an island to the west, where they found a wooden 
shed (or screen) for the storage of grain. f They found no 
other trace of human work, and returned to Leifsbooths in 
the fall. The following summer Thorvald sailed eastward (or 
along the east coast) with the ship and northward along the 
coast (or north of the land). J They were struck by a heavy 
gale off a cape, the ship was driven ashore there, and the 
keel broke under the ship. They stayed there a long time 

* Fara fyrir -vestan landit. t Kornhjdlm aftri. 

X En atsumri odru for porvaldr fyrir austan med kaufiskip.it, ok hitnyrdra 

fyrir landit. 



90 THE VOYAGES OF 

and repaired their ship. Then Thorvald said to his men: 
"Now we shall raise the keel here on the cape and call it 
Kj alar n ess." 

Thence they sailed east of the land (or eastward along 
the coast),* into the mouths of the fiords in the vicinity, 
and to a headland which stretched out there, and which "v\ as 
covered all over with woods. Here they laid the ship along- 
side the shore and put out the gang-plank. Thorvald went 
ashore with all his men, and said : "Here it is beautiful, and 
here I should like to build my house." Then they returned 
to the ship, and discovered on the sands inside the headland 
three hillocks {/ixdi?'). They went there and saw three skin- 
boats, and three men under each boat. Thorvald divided 
his crew into parties and caught all of them (the natives), 
except one, who escaped with his skin -boat. They killed 
the other eight men, and then went back to the headland, 
looked around, and discovered several hillocks further up 
the fiord, and they supposed these to be human dwellings. 

They now became so sleepy that they could not keep 
awake, and all fell asleep. They were awakened by a loud 
voice, shouting, " Wake up, Thorvald, with all your men, 
if you will preserve your life ; go on board your ship with all 
your men and leave the country as soon as possible." 

Then came from the bottom of the fiord a countless num- 
ber of skin-boats, and approached them. Thorvald said: 
"We shall put up the shields (or w^arboards) along the 
sides, so as to defend ourselves as well as possible, but we 
shall not attack." This they did, but the Skrselings shot 
at them for a while, and then they fled, each one as fast as 
he could. Thorvald then asked his men whether any of 

* Austr fyrir landit. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 91 

them had been wounded ; they said they were not wounded. 
"I have got a wound under my arm," said he, "for an 
arrow flew in between the gunwale and the shield ; here is 
the arrow, and this will be my death. Now I give you the 
advice that you prepare to return as soon as possible ; but 
you shall take me to the headland, where I thought it best 
to settle; it may prove true what I said, that I should stay 
there awhile. There you shall bury me, and place a cross at 
my head, and another at my feet, and the headland shall be 
called Crossness ever after." 

Greenland was then Christianized, but yet Eric the Red 
died before the introduction of Christianity. Now Thor- 
vald died, but they did all as he had told them ; and went 
afterwards to their companions and told one another of their 
experiences. They remained there during that winter, and 
gathered vinber and vinvid for a cargo for their ship. 

In the spring they made their ship ready and returned 
to Greenland. They came with their ship to Ericsfiord, and 
they could now tell Leif great news. 

Thorstein's Voyage 

In the meantime, Thorstein, another son of Eric the 
Red, had married Gudrid, after the death of her husband, 
Thorer, who, as told above, was shipwrecked and was saved 
by Leif. 

Thorstein decided to go to Vinland for the body of his 
brother Thorvald. He fitted out the same ship for the voy- 
age, and chose twenty-five large and strong men for a crew. 
Also his wife, Gudrid, went with him. 

They sailed out on the open sea, out of sight of land. 
They drifted about on the sea all the summer, and did not 



<r(yH'- 



92 THE VOYAGES OF 

know where they went ; and at the end of the first week of 
winter (i.e*., about the first of November, according to the 
calendar of the Icelanders) they landed in Lysufiord, in the 
Western Settlement. 

The saga now relates in detail, and most interestingly, 
how Thorstein and Gudrid were very hospitably received by 
Thorstein Svarte in the Western Settlement, how sickness 
tore away many of their men, and how at last Thorstein 
Ericsson died. This part of the narrative is strongly col- 
ored by superstition. Gudrid went to Leif at Brattahlid the 
next spring. 

Thorfinn Karlsefni's Voyage 

The same summer a ship came to Greenland from Norway. 
The captain of this ship was Thorfinn Karlsefni, a man of 
great wealth. He spent the winter on Brattahlid with Leif 
Ericsson, and married Thorstein 's widow, Gudrid. 

There was again much talk of a Vinland voyage, and 
both Gudrid and others encouraged Karlsefni to undertake 
such an expedition. Karlsefni finally decided to go, and hired 
sixty men and five women for a crew ; he made the contract 
with his men that they should have an equal share in all 
the goods which they might acquire. They took with them 
all kinds of live stock, for they intended, if possible, to settle 
in the new country. Karlsefni asked Leif if he would give 
him his houses in Vinland, but Leif answered that he would 
only lend them to him. 

Then they sailed out on the sea with the ship, came 
to Leifsbooths without any mishap, and carried their bags 
ashore. They soon got ample food, for a big and good whale 
drifted ashore. They let the cattle go about on land; among 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 93 

them was a bull, which became very unruly. They felled 
trees; and hewed timber wherewith to load the ship, and 
the timber was laid on the rocks to dry. They used all the 
riches which the land produced: vinber^ game, and other 
good things. 

After the first winter came the summer ; then the Skras- 
lings appeared, issuing from the woods in great numbers. 
Karlsefni's bull commenced to bellow very loudly, and this 
frightened the Skraslings. They ran, carrying with them 
their bundles, which contained gray fur,* sable, and other 
skins, and tried to escape into Karlsefni's houses ; but Karl- 
sefni bade his men defend the doors against them. 

The Norsemen and the Skrcelings did not understand 
each other's language. The Skraslings now took down their 
bundles, opened them, and offered their goods for sale ; they 
wanted to get weapons, but Karlsefni forbade the sale of 
weapons. It now occurred to Karlsefni to let the women 
bring out milk-food, and this found great favor with the 
Skrcelings. After having thus sold their goods, the Skrse- 
lings went away, carrying their wares in their stomachs, 
while their packs and peltries were left behind with Karl- 
sefni and his men. Karlsefni had his men make a strong 
fence of palisades round his houses, and everything was put 
in readiness for defence. At that time Gudrid gave birth to 
a boy, who was called Snorri. 

At the beginning of the next winter the Skrcelings re- 
turned in much greater numbers and brought with them 
the same kind of goods as before. Karlsefni again had his 
women carry out milk-food, and when the Skrselings saw 
this, they threw their bundles over the fence. Gudrid sat in 

* Grdvara, skins of gray squirrel. 



94 THE VOYAGES OF 

the doorway beside the cradle of her son Snorri ; then came 
a shadow before the door, and a woman in a black skirt 
{ndmkyrtill) entered. She was short in stature and wore a 
fillet about her head ; her hair was of a light brown color ; 
her face was pale, and her eyes were larger than ever be- 
fore seen in a human skull. She went up to Gudrid and 
said : "What is your name? " "My name is Gudrid, but 
what is your name?" "My name is Gudrid," said she. 
The housewife Gudrid motioned her with her hand to sit 
beside her; but then, at that very instant, it happened that 
Gudrid heard a great crash, and the woman disappeared, 
and at the same time one of the Skrselings was killed by 
one of Karlsefni's men, because he had tried to take their 
weapons. Now the Skraslings fled at once, but left their gar- 
ments and bundles behind them. No one had seen this 
woman except Gudrid. 

Karlsefni, thinking that the Skraslings would likely re- 
turn a third time in greater number and as enemies, ordered 
ten of his men to place themselves on a certain cape {ness) 
and show themselves there, while the rest of his men were 
ordered to go into the woods and hew a clearing for the 
cattle, when the troop should approach from the forest. The 
bull should go in advance of the men. At the place thus 
chosen for the encounter there was a lake on one side and 
the forest on the other. 

The Skrcelings returned, and attacked Karlsefni's men in 
the position he had selected. A hard fight ensued and a great 
number of the Skraelings were killed . There was a fine big 
man among the Skraelings, whom Karlsefni thought was 
their chieftain. One of the Skraelings took up an axe, looked 
at it awhile, and struck one of his comrades, who fell down 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 95 

dead at once. Then the big man seized the axe, looked at it 
awhile, and threw it out in the lake as far as he could. After 
that the Skraslings fled in disorder into the woods, and thus 
ended their fight. 

Karlsefni and his party remained there throughout the 
winter, but in the spring Karlsefni announced his inten- 
tion to return to Greenland. They now made ready for the 
voyage, and carried away with them many goods: vines 
{vinvidr), berries (ber), and peltries. They arrived safely at 
Ericsfiord, where they remained during the winter. 

The following summer Karlsefni sailed to Norway,* and 
it was said generally that no richer ship had ever sailed 
from Greenland. He had a successful voyage, and remained 
in Norway during the winter and sold his wares. Both he 
and his wife were held in high honor by the most promi- 
nent men of Norway. The next spring, when he was ready 
to sail for Iceland, awaiting a favorable wind, there came to 
him a Southman (sudnnadr), a native of Bremen in Saxon- 
land, who wished to buy his house-ornament {husasnotra) . 
Karlsefni refused at first to sell it, but when he was offered 
half a mark in gold for it, he thought it a good offer and 
accordingly closed the bargain. The Southman went away 
with the house-ornament. Karlsefni did not know what wood 
it was, but it was masur, brought from Vinland. Now Karl- 
sefni sailed to Iceland, where he settled and was a very 
prominent man; from him and his wife Gudrid descends a 
numerous and distinguished lineage. 



*This paragraph concerning Karlseftii occurs a little farther on in the saga, 
but is interpolated here in order to make tlie account more connected. GHM, 
I, 253, 254. 



96 THE VOYAGES OF 

Freydis's Voyage 

After Karlsefni's expedition there was again much talk in 
Greenland of Vinland voyages, which seemed to bring both 
profit and honor. The same summer that Karlsefni returned 
from Vinland, another ship arrived in Greenland from Nor- 
way. This ship was under the command of two brothers, 
Helgi and Finnbogi, and they passed the winter in Green- 
land. These brothers were Icelanders from the east fiords. 

Freydis, a daughter of Eric the Red, went from her home 
at GarSar to the brothers Helgi and Finnbogi and proposed 
that they should together undertake an expedition to Vin- 
land and share equally with her all the goods which they 
might acquire on the voyage. To this they agreed, and she 
went thence to her brother Leif and asked him to give her 
his houses in Vinland, but he answered, as in former cases, 
that he would lend her the houses, but he would not give 
them to her. 

The brothers and Freydis had agreed that each should 
have with them thirty able-bodied men, besides the women, 
but Freydis at once violated this compact by surreptitiously 
bringing five men more, who were hidden so that the bro- 
thers did not see them till they came to Vinland. It had 
been agreed beforehand that they should sail in company, 
if possible, but although they A^'ere not far apart from each 
other, the brothers arrived in Vinland somewhat earlier than 
Freydis, and carried their belongings up to Leif's houses. 
This at once gave rise to ill-feeling, since Freydis claimed 
that she alone had a right to the houses. The brothers then 
carried their baggage out, and built a separate house farther 
from the sea on the shore of the lake. Freydis let her men 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 97 

fell trees with which to load her ship. Now the winter com- 
menced to set in, and the brothers proposed that they should 
play games in order to pass the time. This went on well 
for a while, but soon the relations between the two parties 
became strained, and the games as well as all other inter- 
course between the houses ceased, and in this way things 
went on far into the winter. One morning early, Freydis 
arose from her bed, and dressed herself, but did not put on 
her shoes and stockings. A heavy dew had fallen. She put 
on her husband's cloak, and then she went to the house of 
the brothers and up to the door ; but shortly before a man 
had gone out, and had left the door half open. She opened 
the door, and stood in the doorw^ay for a time without say- 
ing anything; but Finnbogi, who was lying on the inner- 
most side of the room, was awake, ^nd said : ' ' What do you 
want here, Frej^dis? " She answered : " I wish you to rise, 
and go out with me, for I want to speak with you." He 
did so, and they went to the trunk of a tree which was 
lying near the house, and sat down there. "How are you 
satisfied here? " said she. He answered : "I am well satis- 
fied with the country, but I do not like the ill-feeling that 
has come between us, for I think there is no reason for it." 
"It is as you say," said she," and so do I think ; but this 
is my errand to you, that I wish to exchange ships with you 
brothers, for you have a larger ship than I, and I wish to 
sail away from here." "This I will grant you," said he, 
"if you will then be satisfied." With that they parted; 
she went home and Finnbogi went to his bed. She went 
into her bed with her cold feet, whereby Th^rvard woke 
up, and asked why she was so cold and wet. She answered 
with great wrath : "I have been to the brothers in order to 



98 THE VOYAGES OF 

buy their ship, for I wished to have a larger ship ; but they 
took that so badly, that they struck me and handled me 
very roughly; but you, miserable man, will neither avenge 
my shame nor your own ; I feel now that I am not in Green- 
land, and I shall part from you unless you avenge this." 
Thorvald could no longer stand her taunts, and he ordered 
his men to rise at once, and take their weapons ; this they 
did, and went directly to the house of the brothers, which 
they entered, seized the sleeping people, and bound them, 
and led each one out when he was bound ; but as they came 
out Freydis caused each one to be killed. Thus all the men 
were killed, and onlj- the women were left, and these no one 
would kill. Then said Freydis: "Hand me an axe." This 
was done, and then she killed the five women who were 
there, and she did not stop till they were all dead. After this 
evil deed they went back to their house ; and Freydis ap- 
peared to be well satisfied with what she had done, and she 
spoke thus to her people :" If it be ordained for us to come 
again to Greenland, I shall contrive the death of any man 
who speaks of this event ; we shall say that they remained 
living here when we went away." In the spring they made 
the ship ready, which had belonged to the brothers, and 
loaded it with all the best goods that they could obtain and 
the ship could carry. They sailed off, and after a speedy 
voyage they came to Ericsfiord early in the summer. They 
here found Karlsefni about to sail for Norway and waiting 
for a fair wind. 

Freydis went to her home, which had remained unharmed 
during her absence. She bestowed liberal gifts upon all of 
her companions, in order that they should not talk about her 
evil deed, but in course of time the rumor of it got abroad. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 99 

Finally, Leif heard about it and was much concerned. He 
seized three men of Freydis's party, put them to torture, and 
they all told the same tale. "I have no heart," said Leif, 
"to treat my sister Freydis as she deserves, but this I will 
predict of them, that there is litde prosperity in store for 
their offspring." From that time on, no one thought them 
worthy of aught but evil. 

Karlsefni has related the incidents of all these voyages, 
about which it has here been told, more accurately than any 
one else. 

FROM THE SAGA OF ERIC THE RED 

This saga, Eireks Saga Rauda [JER],* is preserved in two 
Icelandic manuscripts, the so-called Hauk''s Book {AM 
544), written about 1320, and a vellum codex {AM 551), 
of about a hundred years later. Both are derived from a com- 
mon original, which, according toFinnur Jonsson, was prob- 
ably written about 1200, and was later somewhat modified, 
but is now lost. Here is narrated only that part of the saga 
which concerns the voyages to Vinland. The translation is 
based on AM 544, f but some of the variants from AM 
557 are included. 

Eric the Red 

The saga tells in detail the history of Eric the Red, and how 
he found and explored a new land to the west of Iceland 
which had formerly been discovered by one Gunnbjorn. He 
went to settle there and called it Greenland, because, he 
said, it would encourage people to go there if the land were 
given a good name. 

*Ed.G. Storm, Copenhagen, 1891. t GHM, I, 352. 



100 THE VOYAGES OF 

Thorbjorn and Gudrid 

Thorbjorn Vifilson was a prominent man in Iceland, and his 
daughter Gudrid was a most beautiful and superior woman. 
For various reasons, which do not concern the Vinland voy- 
ages, Thorbjorn decided to go and join his friend Eric the 
Red in Greenland, and he therefore sold his land and bought 
a ship. He took with him thirty men, among them several 
good friends. When they came out on the ocean they were 
becalmed ; they lost their way and met many difficulties 
during the summer. Sickness broke out among them, and 
some of their friends and half of the crew died. The sea 
became very rough and they suffered the greatest hardships 
in many ways ; but in spite of all they reached Herjulfness 
in Greenland at the beginning of the winter. In the spring 
they went on to Eric the Red, who lived at Brattahlid in 
Ericsfiord. Thorbjorn was given land in Stokkaness, where 
he built a large farm, and where he lived afterwards. 

Leif's Discovery 

Eric the Red had two sons, Thorstein and Leif, both of them 
fine men. Leif sailed for Norway one summer and was driven 
out of his course to the Suder Isles (Hebrides), where he 
spent a long time waiting for a fair wind, and where he 
had a love affair with Thorgunna, a woman of high rank. 
In the fall he came to Norway, where he spent the winter at 
the court of King Olaf Tryggvason, and was well received. 
The King requested Leif to proclaim Christianity in Green- 
land, which mission he accepted after some hesitation. Next 
summer Leif sailed for Greenland, "and for a long time he 
drifted about on the ocean, and came upon lands of which 
he had previously no knowledge. Self-sown wheat-fields 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 101 

and vines {vinvidr) grew there. There were also those trees 
which are called masur, and of all these they took specimens. 
Some trees were so large that they were used as beams in 
houses." Leif found some men upon a wreck and brought 
them home with him, and procured quarters for them all 
during the winter. Leif showed his generosity and energy 
in this and in many other ways, as when he introduced 
Christianity in Greenland, and was ever afterwards called 
Leif the Lucky. He soon preached the Christian faith in the 
country, and delivered to the people the message of King 
Olaf Tryggvason, explaining to them how much glory and 
splendor there was in this faith. Eric was loath to leave the 
old faith, but his wife Thjodhilde was soon converted, and 
she built a church at some distance from their home. 

Thorstein's Voyage 

There was now much talk of a voyage of exploration to that 
country which Leif had discovered, and an expedition was 
prepared under the leadership of Thorstein Ericsson, an able 
and popular man. His father Eric was persuaded to join it. 
They fitted out the ship in which Thorbjorn had come out. 
They selected twenty men, and did not carry any goods with 
them other than weapons and provisions. The saga here 
tells of an accident that happened to Eric when on his way 
to the ship, but this story is here omitted as foreign to the 
subject. The result of this accident was that Eric decided 
to remain at home. 

They sailed from Ericsfiord in the best of spirits and full 
of expectation, but they were driven out of their course and 
drifted about on the ocean for a long time. They came in 
sight of Iceland, and then they saw birds from Ireland. Thus 



102 THE VOYAGES OF 

their ship was driven hither and thither over the sea, and in 
the fall they returned much worn out by exposure to rough 
weather and exhausted by their severe labors and hardships. 
They arrived at Ericsfiord at the beginning of winter, and 
stayed at Brattahlid during the winter. 

Thorstein married Gudrid, Thorbjorn's daughter, in the 
fall, and they went to live at Lysufiord in the Western Set- 
tlement, where he had a house together with a man of the 
same name. As in the corresponding narrative in the Flatey 
Book^ it is now told how sickness broke out and carried away 
a great many people, the account being colored here, as in 
Gp, by superstition. During the winter Thorstein Ericsson 
died, and the next summer his widow, Gudrid, went to live 
with Eric the Red, who acted as a father to her. 

Thorfinn Karlsefni's Voyage 

Thorfinn Karlsefni was an able seaman and merchant, and 
sailed one summer from Iceland to Greenland. Snorri Thor- 
brandsson from Alptafiord went with him, and there were 
forty men on board the ship. At the same time two other 
Icelanders, Bjarni Grimolfsson and Thorhall Gamlason, 
equipped another ship and sailed to Greenland; they had 
likewise forty men on board their ship. Both vessels arrived 
at Ericsfiord in the fall. The merchants traded with Eric 
and stayed with him at Brattahlid during the winter. Karl- 
sefni married Gudrid, the widow of Thorstein Ericsson. 

That same winter there was much talk at Brattahlid about 
an exploration of Vinland the Good, which country was 
thought to possess great natural wealth. Next spring an ex- 
pedition to find the new country was fitted out. It consisted 
of three vessels, one under Karlsefni and Snorri, one under 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 103 

Bjarni and Thorhall, and the third under Thorvard with his 
wife Freydis, an illegitimate daughter of Eric the Red. This 
last ship was the same as that in which Thorbjorn, Gud- 
rid's father, came out to Greenland, and which had also 
been used by Thorstein on his voyage. In it were Eric's son 
Thorvald and one Thorhall, called Hunter {veidimadr), 
who had been for a long time with Eric, as his hunter and 
fisherman during the summer and as his steward during 
the winter. He was big and strong, swarthy, taciturn and 
ill-tempered, and always incited Eric to evil; he was not a 
good Christian; but he had a wide knowledge of the unset- 
tled regions {ubygdir). There were in all one hundred and 
sixty men on board the ships when they sailed. 

They sailed first to the Western Settlement and from there 
to Bjarneyar (Bear Islands). Thence they bore away south- 
ward two days {AM 557: Thence they bore away with a 
north wind, and were out two days), when they saw land, 
and put out the boat, and explored the land, and found 
there large flat stones, many of which were twelve ells wide 
{AM 557: many and so great that they were more than 
two men's height) . There were many Arctic foxes there. 
They called the land Helluland (Land of Flat Stones). Then 
they sailed two days {daegr) , and turned from south towards 
southeast, and found a land, wooded, and with many ani- 
mals. An island lay off the land to the southeast; there they 
killed a bear, and called the island Bjarney (Bear Island), 
but the land was called Markland (Woodland). Thence 
they sailed southward along the coast for a long time, and 
came to a cape {ness); the land was on the starboard side; 
long strands and sands were there.* They rowed to the 

* Foru par strandir langar ok sandar. 



104 THE VOYAGES OF 

shore, and on the cape they found the keel of a ship, and 
they called the cape Kjalarness (Keelness); and the strands 
were called Furdustrands (Remarkable Strands), because 
they were so long to sail by. Then the land became indented 
with bays. They steered their ships into a bay. 

King Olaf Tryggvason had given to Leif two Scotch 
people. The man's name was Haki, and the woman's 
Heekja {AM 557 : The King asked Leif to use these 
people, if he should stand in need of swiftness, for) they were 
swifter than deer. These people were on board the ship with 
Karlsefni {AM 551 : Eric and Leif having tendered Karl- 
sefni their services). When they had sailed past Furdu- 
strands, they put the Scotch people ashore, and directed 
them to run to the southward, to investigate the nature of 
the country, and to return before the end of three days 
{dseg?'). The runners wore a garment, called kiafal, so fash- 
ioned that there was a hood at the top, and it was open at the 
sides, without sleeves, and was fastened between the legs 
with a button and a loop ; but elsewhere they were naked. 
They stayed there and waited during that time, but when 
the runners came back, one of them carried in the hand 
a bunch of vinber^ * and the other an ear of newly (or self-) 
sown wheat. f They went on board their ships and sailed 
on. They stood with their ships into a fiord. Outside it there 
was an island, round which there were strong currents; 
therefore they called it Straumey (Stream Island). 

There were so many eider ducks {AM 551 : birds) on 
the island that it was scarcely possible to walk for the eggs. 
They {AM 551: sailed through or into the fiord and) called 

* Vinberja kongid; according to AM 557 : vinbei-. 
t Hveitiax nijsdid, but in jiAl557 : hveitt sjdlfsdit. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 105 

it Straumfiord. They carried their goods ashore and pre- 
pared to stay there. They had brought with them all kinds 
of live stock. The. country was very beautiful there. {AM 
557: There were mountains thereabouts.) They occupied 
themselves exclusively wdth the exploration of the country, 
and they remained there during the winter {AM 551 : which 
was very severe), without having stored a supply of food. 
During the summer* the fishing began to fail, and they 
began to get short of food. {AM 557 : Then they went out 
to the island in the hope that something might be forthcom- 
ing in the way of fishing or flotsam ; there was not, how- 
ever, much food on the island, but their live stock fared 
well there.) Then Thorhall Hunter disappeared . They had 
previously made supplication to God that He should send 
them food, but it did not come as soon as they needed it. 
They searched for Thorhall three days, and found him on 
a projecting crag, where he lay, staring up at the sky, and 
with mouth and nostrils agape, mumbling something. They 
asked why he had gone there. He replied that that did not 
concern any one. They asked him to go home with them, 
and he did so. Soon after, a whale appeared; they went and 
cut it up, and no one knew what kind of a whale it was. 
When it was prepared, they ate of it and all were taken ill. 
Then said Thorhall : ' ' More helpful was now the Red- 
Beard [Thor] than your Christ ; this is my reward for the 
verses which I composed to Thor, the Trustworthy; seldom 
has he failed me." But when they heard that, they threw 
the whole whale into the sea and left their fate in the hands 
of God. Then the weather improved; they could now row 
out to fish, and thenceforth they had no lack of provisions, 

* The words "during the summer " probal^ly belong to the previous sentence. 



106 THE VOYAGES OF 

for they could hunt game on the land, gather eggs on the 
island, and catch fish in the sea. 

It is told that Thorhall Hunter wished to sail northward 
along Furdustrands {AM 551 : and pastKjalarness) in order 
to find Vinland, but Karlsefni wished to sail southward 
along the coast {AM 547: and east of the land, believing 
that country to be greater which was farther to the south- 
ward, and it seemed to him more advisable to explore in 
both directions). Thorhall made his ship ready at the island, 
and they were not more than nine men all told ; but all the 
rest of the men went with Karlsefni. But when Thorhall 
carried water on board his ship and drank, he recited these 
verses : * " The chieftain [warrior] said that when I came 
here, I should have the best of drinks ; but it behooves me 
to blame this land to everybody. Here I [the warrior] am 
bound with my hands to carry the pail ; I must stoop to the 
well; wine did not come on my lips." And when ready to 
sail, Thorhall recited this verse : ' ' Let us return home to our 
countrymen ; let the seaman explore the broad road of the 
sea, while the untiring men [warriors] , who praise the land, 
settle and cook whales here on Furdustrands." 

Then they sailed northward past Furdustrands and Kja- 
larness, intending to beat past (or along) the coast to the 
westward, but they met strong westerly winds and were 
driven ashore in Ireland, where, according to the account of 
traders, they were ill-treated and thrown into slavery, and 
there Thorhall lost his life. 

Karlsefni, together with Snorri and Bjarni and their 
people, went southward along the coast. They sailed for a long 

* The verses are here translated without any attempt to preserve tlieir poetic 
form. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 107 

time, and came at last to a river which flowed down from 
the land into a lake and then into the sea. There were great 
beaches [eyrar) before the mouth of the river, and the river 
could not be entered except at high tide. Karlsefni and his 
men sailed into the mouth of the river and called the place 
Hop. They found there on the shore self-sown wheat-fields 
on the low land, but vines {vi?ivid?') w^here the ground was 
high. Every brook there was full of fish. They dug pits on 
the beach at the edge of the high tide, and when the tide 
fell there were halibut in the pits. There were great num- 
bers of animals of all kinds in the woods. They remained 
there half a month and enjoyed themselves without anything 
happening. They had brought their live stock with them. 
One morning early they observed a great number of skin- 
boats, and saw that staves (or rods) were brandished, and 
it sounded hke the wind whistling in stacks of straw, and 
the staves were swung with the sun. Karlsefni thought this 
might be a sign of peace and ordered his men to display a 
white shield. These people rowed up to them, went ashore, 
and looked at the newcomers with surprise. They were 
swarthy men of a savage appearance and had scraggly {Hit) 
hair on their heads. They had big eyes and broad cheeks. 
They tarried there for a time, wondering at the people they 
saw before them, and after that they rowed away southward 
around the cape. 

Karlsefni and his follow^ers built their houses (budir) above 
the lake. Some of their dwellings {skdlar) were near the lake, 
others farther away. They remained there that winter. No 
snow came and all of their live stock lived by grazing. 

At the beginning of spring, early one morning, they ob- 
served a number of skin-boats rowed from the south round 



108 THE VOYAGES OF 

the headland, so many that it looked as if coal had been 
strewn at the mouth of the harbor. Then again staves were 
swung on each boat. Karlsefni and his men raised their 
shields, and when they got together they began to barter, 
and these people preferred red cloth ; in exchange they gave 
peltries and pure gray (squirrel?) skins. They also desired 
to buy swords and spears, but this was forbidden by Karl- 
sefni and Snorri. For a pure gray skin the Skraslings re- 
ceived one span of red cloth, which they tied round their 
heads. So their trade went on for a time. Then the cloth began 
to get scarce, and the Norsemen cut it in small pieces not 
wider than a finger, and yet the Skrashngs gave as much 
for it as before, or even more. 

It happened that Karlsefni's bull ran out from the woods, 
bellowing loudly. This frightened the Skraslings ; they ran 
to their boats and rowed away southward along the shore ; 
after this nothing was seen of them for three whole weeks. 
But at the end of that time, a great number of Skreeling 
boats came from the south, a dense stream of them; the 
staves were now swung against the direction of the sun 
{xvithershins) ; and the Skraslings all yelled loudly. Karlsefni 
and his men displayed a red shield. The Skraslings ran 
out of their boats, and a fight ensued. There was a fierce 
shower of missiles, for the Skraslings had war-sHngs {val- 
slongur). The Skraslings raised up on a pole a very large 
ball-shaped body, somewhat like a sheep's belly and blu- 
ish of color ; this they hurled from the pole up on the land 
above Karlsefni's people, and it made a terrific sound w here 
it fell. (According to ^Af 557, it appears that several poles 
with balls attached to them were thrown.) This frightened 
Karlsefni and all his men so much that they fled, and they 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 109 

made their escape up along the river-bank, for it seemed to 
them that the Skraslings were rushing towards them from 
all sides ; they did not halt till they came to some jutting 
rocks, where they oifered a stout resistance. It is now told 
how Freydis came out, and, seeing that the men were flee- 
ing, upbraided them for their cowardice. She tried to fol- 
low them, but, being at that time pregnant, she could not 
run so fast; still she went after them into the woods. The 
Skrcehngs pursued her. On her way she found the dead 
body of Thorbrand Snorrason with a flat stone in his head 
and his naked sword lying beside him ; she took it up and 
prepared to defend herself. The Skraehngs then reached 
her, whereupon she pulled out her breast from under her 
clothing, and struck it with the naked sword. At this the 
Skrselings were frightened and ran to their boats and rowed 
away. Karlsefni and his companions praised her valor. Tw^o 
of Karlsefni' s men had fallen, but a great number of the 
SkrEelings. Karlsefni' s party had here been overwhelmed 
by a superior number ; they went home to their houses and 
dressed their wounds ; they thought that only the men who 
came from the boats could have been real human beings, 
while those who came down upon them from the land must 
have been supernatural or an ocular illusion. The Skrse- 
Hngs, further, found a dead man, and an axe lay beside 
him ; one of them picked up the axe and struck a tree with 
it ; one after another tried it, and they thought it a good 
thing and that it cut well. Finally, one of them hewed at 
a stone with the axe so that it broke, whereupon they threw 
it away. 

Karlsefni and his people now realized that, although the 
land w^as rich, they would always live in constant danger 



no THE VOYAGES OF 

of hostilities with the natives. They therefore determined 
to return to their own country, and at once prepared to leave. 
They sailed to the northward along the coast, and found 
five Skr^lings, clad in coats of skin, lying asleep near the 
sea; they had with them boxes containing animal marrow, 
mixed with blood ; Karlsefni and his men concluded that 
these people must have been banished from their own land ; 
they killed them. Afterwards the Norsemen came to a cape, 
upon which there was a great number of animals ; this cape 
was completely covered with dung, because the animals lay 
there at night. They now came back to Straumfiord, where 
they found abundance of all that they needed. 

Some men say that Bjarni and Gudrid {yiM 557: Frey- 
dis) remained behind here with a hundred men, and went 
no farther ; while Karlsefni and Snorri went southward with 
forty men, stayed at Hop barely two months, and returned 
the same summer. 

Karlsefni then set out with one ship, in search of Thor- 
hall Hunter, but the remainder of the company stayed be- 
hind; they sailed northward around Kjalarness,and then 
bore to the westward with the land on their port side ; the 
country there was a wooded wilderness, as far as the eye 
could see, with scarcely any open spaces. When they had 
sailed for a long time, a river flowed down from the land from 
east to west; they sailed into the mouth of the river, and lay 
to by the southern bank. 

It happened one morning that Karlsefni and his com- 
panions discovered, in a clearing in the woods above them, 
a speck which glittered towards them, and they shouted at 
it; it moved, and it was a uniped, who slid down to the 
bank of the river by which they were lying. Thorvald Erics- 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 111 

son was sitting at the helm, and the uniped shot an arrow 
into his bowels. Thorvald pulled out the arrow and said: 

There is fat about my entrails ; we have come to a good 
land, but yet we shall scarcely enjoy it." 

Thorvald died of this wound shortly after. Then the 

uniped ran away again towards the north. Karlsefni and 

his men pursued him and saw him at times ; the last they 

saw of him was when he jumped into a creek. Then they 

returned, and a man made this verse: 

"The men pureued. 
Very true it was, 
A uniped 

Down to the strand ; 
But the strange man 
Ran away swiftly 
Plunged into the sea; 
Hear thou, Karlsefni! " 

They then sailed back towards the north, and thought they 
saw the land of the unipeds. Therefore they would not ex- 
pose their men any longer. They concluded that the moun- 
tains of Hop were the same as those which they now viewed, 
and there appeared to be very nearly the same distance from 
Straumfiord to both places. 

The third winter they were in Straumfiord. Then the men 
split up into factions, the women being the cause; for the 
unmarried men tried to seize the married women, whence 
great trouble arose. There Snorri, Karlsefni's son, was born 
the first fall, and he was three winters old when they went 
away. When they sailed from Vinland, they got a south- 
erly wind, and so came to Markland, where they found five 
Skraelings, of whom one was bearded, two were women, 
and two were children. The Norsemen caught the boys, 



112 THE VOYAGES OF 

but the others escaped and sank into the ground. They took 
the two boys with them, taught them the language, and 
baptized them. They called their mother Vethilldi {AM 
557 : Vsetilldi) and their father Uvaege. They said that the 
Skr^lings were ruled by kings, of whom one was called 
Avalldania {AM 557 : Avaldamon) and the other Valldi- 
dida. They stated that they had no houses ; the people lived 
in caves or holes. They said there was a land on the other 
side, opposite their land, which was inhabited by people who 
wore white garments, and who carried poles before them 
to which pieces of cloth were attached, and they shouted 
loudly; people think that this must have been Hvitraman- 
naland (White-men's Land), or Great-Ireland. {AM 557 : 
Now they arrived in Greenland, and remained with Eric the 
Red during the winter.) 

Bjarni Grimolfsson was driven with his ship into thelrish 
Sea ; they came into a ' ' worm-sea ' ' {?72adksjd), and the ship 
began to sink fast. They had a boat which was painted 
with seal-tar, for that the sea- worm does not penetrate. They 
went into the boat, and they saw then that it could not hold 
them all. Then said Bjarni: "Since the boat will not hold 
more than half of our men, it is my advice that the men who 
are to go into the boat, be chosen by lot, for this selection 
must not be made according to rank. ' ' This seemed to them 
all such a generous offer that no one would say anything 
against it; they did so; the men cast lots, and it fell to 
Bjarni to go into the boat, and half of the men with him, 
for the boat did not hold any more. But when they had got 
into the boat, an Icelander who was on board the ship, and 
who had accompanied Bjarni from Iceland, said : "Do you 
intend, Bjarni, to leave me here? " " So it must now be," 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 113 

answered Bjarni. He said: "Not such was your promise 
to my father, when I left Iceland with you, that you would 
thus leave me when you said that we should both share 
the same fate." Bjarni answered: "Then it shall not be 
so ; now you go down into the boat, and I will go on board 
the ship, since I see that you are so eager to live." Bjarni 
then went on board the ship, and this man went into the 
boat, and they proceeded upon their voyage until they came 
to Dublin in Ireland, and there they told this tale; but 
most people think that Bjarni and his companions perished 
in the "worm-sea," for they were never heard of after- 
wards. 

The following summer Karlsefni went to Iceland, and 
Gudrid with him, and he went home to Reynisness. 

Other Voyages to Vinland 

Apart from the accounts in Gp and ^^, only brief and 
scattered references to Vinland are in existence. 

In the Icelandic Annals^ * it is stated that, in 1 12 1 , " Bishop 
Eric Gnupsson of Greenland went in search of Vinland." 
It is not told why this voyage was undertaken, nor are 
we informed whether the bishop succeeded in finding Vin- 
land, or whether he returned. We know, however, that 
a new bishop was ordained for Greenland in 1124, which 
appears to show that Bishop Eric was considered as dead 
— if he ever really was Bishop of Greenland, about which 
there is some doubt, for no record of his ordination has been 
preserved. 

In \ht Annals oftheFlatey Book^ we find the following rec- 
ord under the year 1347: "A ship came then from Green- 

* GHM, III, 6. 



114 THE VOYAGES OF 

land, which had sailed to Markland, and there were eigh- 
teen men on board." 

In the Elder Skdlholt Annals, the same event is recorded 
as follows: ' 'There came also a ship from Greenland , smaller 
in size than small Icelandic trading- vessels. It came into the 
outer Straumfiord [in Iceland] . It was without an anchor. 
There were seventeen men on board, and they had sailed to 
Markland, but had afterwards been driven hither by storms 
at sea." 

Various Doubtful or Erroneous Records 

The Honen Runic Stone 

At Honen in Ringerike, Norw^ay, once existed a runic stone, 
the inscription on which was copied in 1823, but the stone 
has since disappeared. Professor Sophus Bugge conjectured 
that this inscription dated from 1010 to 1050, and read 
and translated it as follows: 

" C? ok mit ok purfa 
perm ok dts 
Vinlandi a isa 
I ubygd at komu; 
aud ma Hit vega, 
(at) doyi dr. 

"They came out [on the sea] far distant and were in need 
of dry clothing and food, away towards Vinland on the ice 
in the uninhabited regions. Hardships [evils] may destroy 
luck, so that one dies early. ' ' Professor Finnur Jonsson, how- 
ever, considers both the inscription and its reading as too 
uncertain to be of any historic value. 

An interesting discussion of the Honen-stone was given 
by Professor Yngvar Nielsen, at the Americanist Congress 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 115 

at Stuttgart in 1904.* Professor Nielsen is of opinion that 
the inscription refers to a young man of high birth who 
took part in an expedition to Vinland, and he suggests that 
this expedition may have been undertaken by the Norwe- 
gian King Harald Haardraade. He bases this opinion on 
the statements of Adam of Bremen about King Harald' s 
voyage of exploration. 

Ruins and Inscriptions Jound in America 
A ruin at Newport, Rhode Island, was once thought to date 
from the time of the Norsemen. It has been proved, how- 
ever, that it was used as a mill by Benedict Arnold, the 
governor of Rhode Island, who in his will, in 1677, refers 
to it as " my Stone built Wind Mill, ' ' and, from all that has 
come to light, it seems highly probable that it was built by 
him.f 

Certain ruins of houses and graves found by the late Pro- 
fessor Horsford and by Miss Cornelia Horsford on the banks 
of the Charles River, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, were 
believed bv them to be Norse. The researches which some 
years ago were undertaken on the spot did not bring to light 
any positive evidence to substantiate this theory, but, on the 
other hand, there appears to be nothing absolutely to dis- 
prove it. 

The marks on the so-called Dighton Writing-Rock, 
which were held by some to be runic, have been determined 
as petroglyphs of Indian origin. 

Of the same order as the Dighton Rock is a stone with 
inscription, discovered at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, a num- 

* Historisk Tidsskrift, Series 4, III, 248-293, and JVordmsend og Skraelinger 

i Vinland, Kristiania, 1904. 

t C. T. Brooks, The Old Stone Millin the Tmvn ofJYenvfiort, Newport, 1851. 



116 THE VOYAGES OF 

ber of years ago, and now preserved in the Yarmouth Public 
Library. It weighs about four hundred pounds. Whatever 
may be the origin of the inscription, which is here given in 

Inscription on the '^ Yarmouth Stojie^^'' Nova Scotia 

facsimile on a reduced scale, it seems certain, according to 
Sir Daniel Wilson, that it is not runic. 

The so-called Kensington Stone, found in Minnesota, 
bears a runic inscription, but it has been conclusively shown 
by Professor G. T. Flom* to be a recent forgery. 

In Chapter X mention is made of some ruins on the 
coasts of Labrador, which are referred to in the reports of 
the Moravian Brethren and by Dr. Grenfell. Their origin is 
still unknown, and it is desirable that they should be exam- 
ined by archaeologists. 

Cartographic Records 

The late Dr. Axel Anthon Bjornbo, in his admirable work, 
Cai'tographia Groenlamlica^'\ constructed a diagram (fac- 
ing page 118) to illustrate the Norse-Icelandic concep- 
tion of '"'' Icringla heimsins^'''' the orb of the world. This dia- 
gram shows how the Norsemen tried to reconcile the 
dogmatic geography, transmitted to them by the Church, 
with their own discoveries. Whether the outer ocean [mare 
oceanum, iithaf) extended bet\A^een Vinland and Markland, 
between Markland and Helluland, or between Helluland 
and Greenland, Bjornbo thought, was not quite clear to 

* The Kensington Runic Stone, Illinois State Historical Society, 1910. 
tikfG, XLVIII, 1911. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 117 

the Norsemen. His conclusions on this subject were as 
follows : 

' ' In Iceland and in Norway there developed in the twelfth 
and thirteenth centuries an independent geographical sys- 
tem, which corresponded theoretically and formally with 
Roman cosmography, as it had been developed by Macro- 
bius and Isidore, but which in reality entailed a profound 
change in the conception of the world. The basis of this 
change was formed by the discovery of Greenland, parts of 
North America, and, possibly, Spitzbergen. On the whole, 
the location of these countries was correctly known to the 
Norsemen, but for several reasons, amongst others in order 
to maintain the theory that the continents formed a round 
disc surrounded by the ocean, it was supposed that Green- 
land stretched out from Russia, and the North American 
continent [Vinland] stretched out from Africa. The author 
of the King's Mirror^ moreover, influenced by his know- 
ledge of the polar cHmate of Greenland, took the first cau- 
tious step to break with the theory of the inhabitability 
of the cold zones by advancing the opinion that Greenland, 
although it was partly inhabited, was located in the extreme 
north and in the cold zone." 

The direct influence of northern traditions on mediaeval 
cosmography is first traceable in the works of the Danish 
cartographer {inathematicus) ^ Claudius Clausson Swart, 
known under the name of Claudius Clavus, who was born 
in 1388. Clavus possessed a relatively accurate knowledge 
of Greenland and of the old Norse traditions, which enabled 
him to break completely with the old conception of the Arctic 
Circle as the boundary of the continent washed by the outer 
ocean, or at least as the boundary of the habitable world. 



118 VOYAGES OF THE NORSEMEN 

Clavus's so-called "Nancy map" of 1427, the original of 
which dated from 1424, was the first graded map since the 
time of the ancients and the first to show Greenland. Clavus 
believed that it was possible to sail from Norway to China 
across or near the pole, and he was the first to suggest the 
idea of a northwest passage. His work, in fact, inaugurated 
a complete revolution in the cosmographic conceptions of 
his time. 

The only map on which the discoveries of the Norsemen 
are indicated in a clear, indisputable manner is that of Sig- 
urdr Stefansson, which, according to Storm, dates from 
about 1590. This map is here reproduced photographically, 
as given by Bishop Thordr Thorlaksson about 1670.* It 
seems certain that Stefansson was acquainted with the Saga 
of Eric the Red, but there is no positive evidence that he 
was in possession of other independent information. 

It is believed by some that certain other maps from the 
fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries show traces of the 
traditions of the Norsemen's discoveries, which may have 
reached early cartographers, but the indications are so 
vague and doubtful that they appear to have little scientific 
value. 



'Royal library, Copenhagen, Old Collection, No. 2881, 4to. 




Kringla Hehns'ins. MG^ XL VIII 
Orbof the World as conceivedin Iceland and JVor%vay from ocii to acvvcentury 



Constructed by Dr, A. A, Bjornbo 



^hiua.cura.m. m hue maM4. 
tecum n hwn^ iX^uciiH^ 

A. /{I'ju'n^adaiviJnaftjer 
ytninivf nil iti''t^'ft "'"'a 
CJcni '-fiiKijvmytl Sirki ikI 

_ ej«>«*^' ,,»./ )• 

aifon}^/^'- ■k'^tjacaiij- 
ihi-ftm- e2 vklMM nnmuk 
ttPifntrtrUun, HOnOM. 
Ji'Xctr. J-duu. X menJu 
ffceoniim-Ttuirt wtu.cn iw 

Cfvml ciUtac, tkUnii 

Jtih'njvtn. ^ 

avti i^tiC/Ux. ditUtr. 
D Oli'twfdiotri Sii'td, av^'^ 

JyTin^- ^^ J, 

Jt J<i<tMth«im«x xMm. 'V* 

Qfru-f(u a (fu.dm.tliuhju.i 
ifit cxiffimaxt itcei. 







i/i< cXdhmaxt Ucet. - ^ — ^ '—^ — — — 

YSinumMc inaetvftm m-(illi(jintu in ./tu/Jiam tXcumrffem, 

Map of S'lgurdr Stefdnsson 



CHAPTER VI 

HISTORIC VALUE OF THE ACCOUNTS CONSIDERED IN 
THEIR ENTIRETY 

IN general, the simple and straightforward narrative in 
the sagas of the discovery of America by the Norsemen 
will by itself be sufficient to convince people of its essen- 
tial truthfulness. Many people, however, who have had no 
opportunity to study the sagas, but who have heard of the 
somewhat fantastic conclusions that certain individuals have 
drawn from them, regard the entire story as due to the 
fancy of the old Norse writers and of modern amateur his- 
torians. Recently, moreover, Dr. Fridtjof Nansen, in his 
book In Northern Mists* has thrown doubt upon the saga 
accounts, declaring that both the version in the Flatey Book 
and in the Saga of Eric the Red^ as well as most other rec- 
ords of the Vinland voyages, must be considered unhistoric. 
It is, therefore, necessary, before we go further, to meet this 
criticism and to consider the reliability and genuineness of 
the accounts in their entirety. 

Nansen bases his skeptical view of the sagas on their 
analogy to certain legends. As early as among the ancient 
Greeks, and continued to the Middle Ages, occur myths of 
certain Insulse Fortunatae^ Isles of the Blest, situated in the 
ocean far to the west, on which were found wild grapes and 
self-sown wheat. According to Pliny and Isidore, these Isles 
were west of Morocco, and the conception of them was prob- 
ably derived from the Canaries, which were known even to 
the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians. The account of the 
Isles of the Blest was carried to Ireland, and from there to 

*New York, 1911; Kord i Taakeheimen , Kristiania, 1911. 



120 THE VOYAGES OF 

Norway and Iceland. In the Old Norse language the name 
Insulx Fortunatx^ according to Nansen, became V inland 
hit Goda. 

Now Nansen admits as probable, or even certain, that the 
Norsemen discovered and visited America. When rumors 
of the new land found to the southwest of Greenland reached 
Iceland (Europe), they were associated with the mythical 
ideas of the Isles of the Blest, and the name" Vinland," 
together with the notion of grapes and self-sown wheat- 
fields, was transferred to it. Gradually fragments from an- 
cient legends, Greek, Roman, Irish, and others, crystallized 
round this kernel, until finally the detailed account of the 
Vinland voyages as given in the sagas was developed. The 
notion that Vinland was connected with, or was in close 
proximity to, Africa arose as a natural consequence of its 
confusion with the Insulx Fortunatx, of which confusion 
it bears witness. 

Nansen argues at considerable length for his proposition 
on the analogy bet\^^een ancient or mediaeval myths and 
the sagas, and concludes by saying: "But even if we are 
obliged to abandon the Saga of Eric the Red and the other 
descriptions of these voyages as historical documents, this is 
compensated for by the increase in our admiration for the 
extraordinary powers of realistic description in Icelandic 
literature. In reading Eric's Saga one cannot help being 
struck by the way in ^Ahich many of the events are so 
described, often in a few words, that the A\'hole thing is 
before one's eyes, and it is difficult to believe that it has 
not actually occurred. The Icelanders created the realistic 
novel." 

No one can deny the possibility that certain legendary 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 121 

traits may have found their way into the sagas. Thus, for 
instance, the name Vinland, and perhaps also the notion 
of grapes and self-sown wheat, may have had the origin 
which Nansen supposes, ahhough this is by no means prob- 
able. When Nansen asserts that the conceptions of wine and 
wheat were foreign to the Norsemen, he is, according to 
Professor Finnur Jonsson,* mistaken. Both wine and wheat 
were from olden time staple articles of import into the north. 
Thus it is stated in EgiPs Saga that a Norseman in the 
ninth century in England bought a cargo of ' ' wheat, honey, 
wine, and clothing." 

While we must admit as a possibility a direct connec- 
tion between the mythical legends and the name of Vinland 
and its attributes, it is far more difficult to follow Nansen in 
his assertion that the saga accounts in their entirety were 
built up of mythical material round such a nucleus, in itself 
largely mythical and vague. 

The analogy between the sagas and the old Irish and 
other legends is very incomplete, and where it exists, it may 
be largely explained by the simple fact that the fine climate 
and natural wealth of the coasts of America, as compared 
with the severe climate and the poverty of Greenland and 
Iceland, made the new land appear to the Norsemen in the 
same light as did the African islands [Insulx Fortujiatse) , 
with their equable climate and rich soil, to people about the 
Mediterranean . 

It is not possible, without taking up too much space, to go 
through all the analogies pointed out by Nansen. We shall 
only give here as a sample one that he considers as very 
remarkable, the likeness between the voyage of the Norse- 

* Erik den Bodes Saga og Vinland, Histor is k Tidsskrift, 1911. 



122 THE VOYAGES OF 

men and that of the Irish Saint Brandan to the Grape Isle 
[Insula Uvarum)^ one of the Isles of the Blest. The Brandan 
legend was written not later than the eleventh century, and 
was well known in Iceland.* 

Nansen writes : "In the Latin ' Navigatio Sancti Bran- 
dani^'' a description of Brandan 's seven years' sea-voyage 
in search of the Promised Land, it is related that one day 
a mighty bird came flying to Brandan and the brethren who 
were with him in the coracle ; it had a branch in its beak 
with a bunch of grapes of unexampled size and redness, 
and it dropped the branch into the lap of the man of God. 
The grapes were as large as apples, and they lived on them 
for twelve days. 

"Three days afterwards they reached the island; it was 
covered with the thickest forests of vines, which bore grapes 
with such incredible fertility that all the trees M^ere bent to 
the earth ; all with the same fruit and the same colour ; not 
a tree was unfruitful ; and there were none found there of 
any other sort. 

Then this man of God goes ashore and explores the 
island, while the brethren wait in the boat [like Karlsefni 
and his men waiting for the runners] , until he comes back 
to them bringing samples of the fruits of the island [as 
the runners brought with them samples of the products of 
Wineland] . He says : ' Come ashore and set up the tent, 
and regale yourself with the excellent fruits of this land, 
which the Lord has shown us.' For forty days they lived 
well on the grapes, and when they left they loaded the boat 
with as many of them as it would hold, exactly like Leif 
in the ^ Grsenlendinga pdffr,^ who loaded his ship's boat with 

*/n JVbrthern Mists, vol. i, p. 358. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 123 

grapes when they left Wineland ; and like Thorvald at the 
same place, who collected grapes and vines for a cargo. 

"The fortunate island on which the monk Mernoc hved 
[at the beginning of the ' Navigatio '] was called the ' Insula 
Deliciosa. ' The great river that Brandan found in the Terra 
Repromissionis, and that ran through the middle of the 
island, may be compared with the stream that Karlsefni 
found at Hop, in Wineland, which fell into a lake and thence 
into the sea, and where they entered the mouth of the river. 
But the river which divided the Terra Repromissionis, and 
which Brandan could not cross, was evidently originally the 
river of death, Styx, or Acheron in Greek mythology [Gjoll 
in Norse mythology] . One might be tempted to suppose 
that, in the same way as the whole description of Wineland 
has been dechristianized from the Terra Repromissionis, the 
realistic, and therefore often rationalizing Icelanders have 
transformed the river in the Promised Land, the ancient 
river of death, into the stream at Hop." 

A comparison between the flowery legend and the terse 
realistic narrative of the saga does not seem to reveal any 
organic relation between the two, but it is of course pos- 
sible that certain details in the saga may have been borrowed 
from the legend. Other analogies do not appear to be more 
complete. There seems, indeed, no reason to go back to 
mythical tales in order to find the origin of the sagas. Let 
us consider first, in a general way, the probability of the 
Norsemen discovering and settling on the coasts of Amer- 
ica. We have already mentioned the fact that the Norsemen 
had no means of determining the longitude astronomically. 
They often drifted about on the ocean for a long time, and 
the persistent northerly and easterly winds, which often 



124 THE VOYAGES OF 

prevail in the North Atlantic during the early summer 
months, might very easily have driven their light vessels 
hundreds of miles to the southwest. We cannot M-onder, 
therefore, that such vessels, sailing from Iceland, Norway, or 
the Scotch islands, and bound for Greenland, should at times 
be driven so much out of their course that they would come 
in sight of or strand on the shores of Labrador, Newfound- 
land, or even parts of America farther south. It was in this 
way that both Iceland and Greenland were discovered. Con- 
sidering that the Norse colonies in Greenland existed for 
more than four hundred years, a period at least as long as 
that which has now elapsed since the discovery of America 
by Columbus, and that during this long period trade was 
kept up, at least intermittently, between these colonies and 
Iceland and Norway, it must be admitted that the chances 
of such accidental discovery of America were very great. 

Moreover, the Norse Greenlanders, who habitually sailed 
far to the north along the west coast of Greenland, may at 
times have been driven across the Davis Strait, which at 
Holstensborg is only one hundred and sixty-five miles wide, 
and must thus have come in sight of Baffin Land or Lab- 
rador. Once this region was discovered, the intrepid and 
enterprising explorers would hardly hesitate to push south- 
ward along the coast to milder climates, where navigation 
was far simpler and less dangerous than about Greenland, 
and where it was easier to obtain means of sustaining life. 
The coasts of America, even of Labrador and Newfound- 
land, with their wealth of timber, berries, fish, birds, and 
mammals, must have appeared an Eldorado to the Green- 
landers, who there found in abundance most of the natural 
products in which Greenland was lacking. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 125 

We may, therefore, assert that, even had the sagas not 
contained one word of reference to such discovery, we should 
still be justified in concluding that, under the given circum- 
stances, and having regard, in particular, to the means of 
navigation of the Norsemen, they could hardly help discov- 
ering America, most probably Newfoundland and Labra- 
dor, but perhaps also coasts to the south of Newfoundland. 
On this point, indeed, all authorities, including Dr. Nan- 
sen, agree, that the Norsemen did land on some part of the 
American continent. 

We might conjecture, without knowing anything of the 
reports of the sagas, that the Norsemen would make at- 
tempts at settlement in these new countries, but that, consid- 
ering their small number compared to the numerous native 
population, such attempts were doomed to failure. Even the 
colonists, who several centuries later landed on these coasts 
in much greater numbers, provided with firearms and all 
the advantages of a more advanced civilization, found it 
difficult at times to hold their own against the natives. Such 
intercourse as the Greenlanders could keep up with Amer- 
ica in those times would naturally be confined to occasional 
expeditions for obtaining timber and for trading with the 
natives. 

These logical conclusions, based on conditions which are 
known to have existed, are fully corroborated by the saga 
accounts, which do not, therefore, in their main features 
contain anything improbable. The sagas relate in sum, so 
far as the scope, the object, and the result of the voyages 
are concerned, exactly what we should expect to have taken 
place, even had the tales of the sagas never reached us. 

Evidence of the truthfulness of the sagas is found, more- 



126 THE VOYAGES OF 

over, not only in their main features, but also in their de- 
tails. Their descriptions of the new land, written several 
centuries before the voyage of Columbus, are specific and 
characteristic, and correspond remarkably well with cer- 
tain parts of the American coasts, as will be shown in later 
chapters. Furthermore, the mode of navigation that they 
report accords with what we know from other sources of 
the nautical means and methods of the Norsemen. 

According to the sagas, the most important product 
which the Norsemen brought home from Vinland and 
Markland was timber. This would naturally be the case, for 
while timber was very scarce and valuable in Greenland, it 
was abundant on the coasts of America, and the voyagers 
merely responded to their economic conditions and necessi- 
ties. This point alone should be sufficient to remove from the 
sagas the suspicion of being a mere combination of legends 
and myths. 

The intercourse of the Norsemen with the natives, the 
tales of bartering and fighting, the general high-handed atti- 
tude of the visitors, and their final virtual defeat, all bear 
the stamp of genuineness, and have no parallel in happen- 
ings on the InsulsB Fortimatse. 

A still stronger proof of the historic reliability of the sagas 
is found in internal evidence of their truth. Their style is 
realistic, and the information they give is detailed and defi- 
nite. As Dr. Nansen himself says, it is difficult to believe 
that the incidents did not actually happen. According to the 
highest authorities on Icelandic literature, the archaic verses 
by Thorhall Hunter and about the uniped are undoubtedly 
genuine. Further internal evidenceof veracity will be pointed 
out in the next chapter. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 127 

The inconsistencies and contradictions in the sagas can 
be satisfactorily explained by the overlapping and inter- 
mingling of different narratives resulting from their mode 
of transmission. The fabulous statements that appear oc- 
casionally do not, as already explained, discredit the relia- 
bility of the sagas as a whole. The Norsemen were very 
superstitious, and it was to be expected that their accounts 
of voyages to unknown lands, where they met natives of a 
different race, should show traces of their credulity. In truth, 
the fabulous parts are really evidence of their subjective 
truthfulness ; they represent the facts as they were viewed 
by the participants. 

Finally, attention may be drawn to the corroborative evi- 
dence that exists in the form of independent and scattered 
statements in a variety of sources lending support to the two 
principal and detailed saga accounts. We shall here merely 
refer to the independent remarks about Vinland found in 
Adam of Bremen's work, the brief statements of Ari Erode 
in the Islendinga Book^ the references in Landndma Book^ 
the Eyrbyggja Saga, and the Gi^ettir's Saga, the geographi- 
cal description due to Abbot Nicolas of Thingeyri, the re- 
ports in the Icelandic Annals about the voyage of Bishop 
Eric in 1121, and the storm-driven ship that came from 
Markland in 1347. These references show how widespread 
was the knowledge of these voyages in Scandinavia, and 
they testify to a firmly established and generally know^n tra- 
dition, which reaches back to the time of Ari Erode and the 
first settlement of Greenland. 

The brevity of the reference to Vinland by early writers 
like Ari Erode and Snorri does not necessarily show, as 
argued by Nansen, that there was nothing more to be said 



128 VOYAGES OF THE NORSEMEN 

about the discovery, and that the more complete accounts that 
afterwards appeared were, therefore, the invention of later 
saga-writers. Historians like Ari and Snorri had set them- 
selves the task of writing about topics of more general inter- 
est, such as the history of Iceland and Norway, which to 
them were much nearer and much more important. 

In conclusion, then, we may assert that the two main 
accounts of the voyages of the Norsemen to America, those 
namely in the Flatey Book and in the Saga of Eric the Red^ 
may be considered as essentially historic, and cannot be 
explained satisfactorily as pure fiction derived from ancient 
legends or myths. 



CHAPTER VII 

THE FLATEY BOOK VERSUS THE SAGA OF ERIC THE RED 

THE opinion now generally held that the account of the 
Vinland voyages in the Flatey Book is untrustworthy, 
while that in the Saga of Enc the Red is essentially historic, 
results mainly from an essay by Dr. Gustav Storm, entitled 
Studies on the Vinland Voyages. 

In order to obtain a basis for the following discussion, we 
shall commence by stating briefly Storm's views. Then we 
shall examine the various grounds on which these views rely, 
and discuss other points which may serve to throw light 
on the subject. 

According to Storm, the main Icelandic accounts of the 
discovery of Vinland and its attempted colonization are 
found in two diverging narratives, which have been mixed 
together in a rather absurd manner, and which must, there- 
fore, be kept distinct from each other. The first of these is 
the Saga of Eric the Red {ER), which dates from the sec- 
ond half of the thirteenth century, when saga literature was 
in its prime. The second, which is post-classic in form and 
conception, is found in the Flatey Book {EB), which dates 
from the last half of the fourteenth century. In order that 
the reader may understand Storm's criticism, especially as 
regards chronology, it is necessary that he should be ac- 
quainted with the general arrangement of the material in EB, 

This material occurs in three different sections, each of 
which is inserted in different places of the Saga of Olaf 
Tryggvason.* The first section contains the separate Story 

* Flateyarbok , Kildeskriftfondets Udgave, Kristiania, 1860-68. The three sec- 
tions here referred to occur on pages 429-432, 448, and 538-549, respectively. 



130 THE VOYAGES OF 

of Eric the Red^ with his settling in Greenland, a brief men- 
tion of Leif's voyage to Norway, and the voyage of Bjarni. 
The second section merely forms part of the saga of Olaf 
Tryggvason, and is entirely independent of the first and 
third sections. It contains the paragraph on Leif's voyage 
from Norway to Greenland, where it is stated that he saved 
a shipwrecked crew and that he obtained the surname "the 
Lucky." This paragraph is practically identical with the 
corresponding paragraph in the long Saga of Olaf Trygg- 
vason (see page 77), except that the remark "and on the 
same voyage he found Vinland the Good" is omitted in 
FB. Storm holds that this omission is a wilful corruption 
of the text, undertaken by the compiler of FB in order to 
avoid a conflict with the tale of Bjarni, whose voyage and 
discovery is substituted for Leif's discovery. The third sec- 
tion of the i^^ version is separated from the second by much 
other matter, and bears the title Grsenlendinga pdttr (Gp), 
which comprises the whole subsequent series of Vinland 
voyages. We find here that Leif, on his voyage of explora- 
tion, again saves a shipwrecked crew, and that he is once 
more given the surname "the Lucky," which fact seems to 
have been overlooked by the author of FB, This section, 
which is really a continuation of the first, is inserted in FB 
at the place which was considered chronologically proper 
by the compiler, namely after the death of Olaf Tryggva- 
son, when Earl Eric was reigning in Norway, after the year 
1000. It opens with the words, " It is now next to this that 
Bjarni Herjulfsson went from Greenland to Norway and vis- 
ited Earl Eric," from which Storm concludes that this visit 
cannot have taken place earlier than 1001-1002, Hence he 
arrives at the following chronology for FB: 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 131 

Bj ami's voyage from Iceland to Greenland, on which 

he discovered the coasts of America 985 

Bj ami's voyage to Norway (not earlier than) 1001 

Bjami's return from Norway to Greenland 1002 

Leif s exploring expedition to Vinland 1003-1004 

Thorvald's voyage to Vinland 1005-1006 

Thorstein's voyage 1007 

Karlsefrii's arrival in Greenland 1008 

Karlsefhi's voyage to Vinland 1009-1011 

Freydis's voyage to Vinland 1012—1013 

Karlsefhi's voyage to Norway 1013—1014 

On the other hand, following ER, Storm arrives at the fol- 
lowing chronology : 

Leif's discovery of Vinland 1000 

Thorstein's voyage 1001 

Karlsefrii's arrival in Greenland 1002 

Karlsefrii's voyage to Vinland 1003—1006 

Storm bases one of his strongest arguments against Gp on 
the discrepancy between these chronologies. 

The latter chronology he considers the more probable be- 
cause Leif's return voyage from Nor\vay, according to the 
old fixed tradition, took place in the year 1000, and because, 
in the case of Karlsefni's expedition, only the time 1003- 
1006 can in his opinion be reconciled with the Eyrbyggja 
Saga, a point which will be discussed below, Gp, on the 
other hand, being inconsistent with these data, he considers 
as unhistoric. 

Storm further asserts that Gp appears to stand quite in- 
dependent of other Icelandic literature, and its genealogi- 
cal information differs considerably from LaiKbidma Book. 
Bjarni is otherwise quite an unknown person, and the ac- 
count of his discoveries conflicts entirely with the reliable 



132 THE VOYAGES OF 

reports of Leif's discovery in the year 1000. Essentially the 
same events form the subject of both sagas, but the account 
of ER is far more homogeneous, consistent, and probable. 
After having criticised several minor points in the FB ver- 
sion, Storm sums up his conclusions as follows: 

"Weighing all that has been said, it will, I certainly 
think, be safest henceforth to treat the account in Gpw'iXh 
great circumspection. Whatever has its only basis in Gp 
must be rejected as doubtful, and whatever is there found 
at variance with early tradition, as wanting historical foun- 
dation. Accordingly, Bjarni Herjulfsson's voyage should no 
doubt be omitted, to make room for Leif Ericsson's voy- 
age, and the voyages of Thorvald Ericsson and of Freydis 
should be comprised in the great exploratory expedition 
under Thorfinn Karlsefni. Geographical data and descrip- 
tions relying for support solely on Gp must be sifted with 
great care, and never admitted save when borne out by 
the Saga of Eric the Red. Not till this has been done, can 
we venture on a critical investigation of the geography of 
Wineland." 

We shall now examine separately each of the points on 
which Storm has based his criticism of the T^jS version. 

Genealogy 

According to Storm, two discrepancies are found between 
the genealogical statements of Gp and the older sources. 
One is that, according to Gp, Gudrid had formerly been 
married to a certain Thorir, a fact not mentioned elsewhere ; 
the other is that Gudrid's son's daughter was the grand- 
mother of a certain bishop, while according to all other 
sources she was his mother. It is evident that neither of these 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 133 

errors, if errors they be, have anything to do with the Vin- 
land voyages ; their only significance hes in the fact that they 
point to a certain ignorance of historical details or a lack 
of accuracy on the part of the compiler of FB. 

BjARNI VERSUS LeIF 

While the compiler of FB omits the discovery of Vinland 
by Leif on his return voyage from Norway, and gives to 
Bjarni the credit of having first discovered the new land. 
Storm eliminates from history the entire voyage of Bjarni 
in order to make room for Leif's discovery. But may not both 
events have occurred, in which case one omission would be 
as unjustifiable as the other? 

Let us first assume that Bj ami's discovery actually took 
place in 985 or 986. If we also assume, in accordance with 
the old tradition, that Leif, on his return voyage from Nor- 
way in the year 1000, likewise discovered the coasts of 
America, and, further, that his exploring expedition took 
place in 1003-1004, after Bjarni had returned from his voy- 
age to Norway, there would so far be no conflict. Storm finds 
it unreasonable that such a long time should have passed 
between Bj ami's discovery and Leif's voyage of explora- 
tion, but it must be borne in mind that during these years 
the young colony in Greenland must have been fully occu- 
pied in establishing itself. Houses had to be built ; fishing- 
grounds had to be found far away in Nordrseta ; and the 
colony had to be organized. On the whole, the colony was 
poor, and little energy and small means could be spared 
for undertaking costly expeditions to new lands. The few 
available ships were probably fully engaged in trading and 
in fishing expeditions to the north. It is worth noting that. 



134 THE VOYAGES OF 

in the case of nearly every voyage of exploration, the saga 
states how the ship for the voyage was procured, showing 
the scarcity of large vessels. These circumstances may 
explain why the lands which Bjarni had found were not 
explored for a number of years. Leif then returned from 
Norway ; he w^as young and ambitious ; his voyage across 
the Atlantic to Norway and back shows that he was a bold 
and skilful mariner ; and he was the son of the most promi- 
nent man in Greenland. His voyage to Norway had been 
a success, and probably he acquired wealth by the salvage 
of timber from the wrecked ship. If, moreover, Leif him- 
self had seen the new land on his return, we find no diffi- 
culty in understanding why he should then, and not at an 
earlier time, venture on such an expensive and dangerous 
expedition, and how he would thus become the first actual 
explorer of the new land. In other words, the supposed con- 
flict between Leif's and Bj ami's voyages disappears. 

Schoning* has suggested thatBjarni's voyage to Norway 
may have taken place as early as in 988 or 989, when Earl 
Eric was reigning over a certain part of Norway under the 
sovereignty of the King of Denmark. This would imply that 
the opening statement of Gp had been inserted in a chro- 
nologically wrong place by the author of FB. The suppo- 
sition contains nothing unreasonable, and, if it is correct, 
Leif's exploring expedition may well have taken place as 
early as 1001, the year after his return from Norway. 

P. A. Munch supposed that Bjarni's father, Herjulf, did 
not go to Greenland till the year 999, and hence Bjarni 
did not discover America till the year 1000. No claim to 
correctness for any particular chronology is here advanced. 

*GHM, I, 267. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 135 

It is merely intended to show that Storm's condemnation of 
the account of Bj ami's voyage, so far as this condemnation 
is based on chronology, is by no means founded on certain 
evidence. 

In the story of Leif's voyage to Norway {ER) is found 
a detailed account of a love affair which he had on the Heb- 
rides, before his arrival in Norway, with a woman named 
Thorgunna. This event, if we follow ER, should have 
taken place in 999, but, as shown by P. A. Munch,* the ac- 
count conflicts with certain trustworthy statements in the 
Eyrbyggja Saga, which fix it about 987. Munch concludes 
that the account was wrongly interpolated in this place, 
and, although the chronology of Leif's voyage can hardly 
be considered as shaken by the error, it shows at least that 
ER also has its inconsistencies and mistakes. 

Leif's discovery of Vinland on his return voyage from 
Norway is described in^i?in a remarkably laconic manner. 
The statements concerning vines {vinvidr) and self-sown 
wheat-fields stand entirely isolated, unsupported by corrobo- 
rative details, such as are usually found elsewhere in the 
sagas. It looks as if part of the tale was omitted, and it seems 
likely that the story of the Scotch runners in ER belongs 
here. The omission in EB of Leif's discovery of Vinland 
on his return from Norway is undoubtedly a wilful corrup- 
tion of the text, as asserted by Storm, but it does not follow 
that Bj ami's discovery is pure invention. Bj ami's tale does 
not, in itself, contain anything improbable. His difliidence on 
starting from Iceland on the unknown voyage to Greenland 
bears the stamp of truth. The Hafgerbinga Drdpa, which 
occurs in this section of EB, seems genuine. As will be 

* Det JVorske Folks Historie, 1853, II, 563. 



136 THE VOYAGES OF 

explained in Chapter XI, the account of his navigation is 
logical and fairly consistent with actual geographical condi- 
tions. A reasonable explanation may be given of the men- 
tion of glaciers on this voyage, as well as on Leif's voyage 
{Gp), when glaciers were seen in Helluland — one of the 
points in FB which is criticised by Storm as inexplicable. 
On the whole, Bjarni's narrative may well bear comparison 
with Leif's in EH, and we have, therefore, no more right 
to reject Bjarni's discovery, as proposed by Storm, than to 
reject Leif's discovery, with the author of FB. 

Leif's Exploring Expedition {Gp) 

This account is very detailed and definite, and the expe- 
dition forms a logical sequel to Bjarni's voyage, seen from 
a navigator's point of view. Leif would naturally, as the saf- 
est method of navigation, follow the reverse course of Bjarni. 
By sailing across Davis Strait to the land which Bjarni had 
seen last, whether Baffin Land or Labrador, he would have 
the shortest voyage across the sea ; and having once made 
land, he would simply follow the coast southward. The 
topographical description of Markland is perhaps the most 
weighty evidence in favor of this saga. The woods and 
the extensive, flat, white sand beaches are features which 
actually exist on the coasts of America, and which could 
not, at the time this saga was written, one hundred years 
before the discovery of Columbus, have been knowm in Ice- 
land except from the traditions of the Vinland voyages. The 
Norsemen would naturally mention these features as some- 
thing remarkable, since they were not found in Iceland or 
Greenland. 

Likewise, the astronomical remark on the sun's azimuth 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 137 

at sunrise and sunset appears genuine. Even Storm regards 
it as " certain evidence ' ' that the Norsemen reached as far 
south as the parallel of 50° , and opens his essay with a long 
and minute investigation of this observation, notwithstand- 
ing the fact that it occurs nowhere except in G/?, which 
is declared by Storm to be unreliable. Storm, in fact, uses 
this astronomical remark virtually as the cornerstone of his 
theory that Vinland was in Nova Scotia. 

Another bit of evidence showing that we have here to do 
with an independent expedition by Leif is found in the 
statement that he built houses, Leifsbooths, in Vinland, 
which are referred to repeatedly later. This statement can- 
not belong to Leif's return voyage from Norway, since we 
find no mention that he spent a winter in Vinland on that 
voyage. 

Storm's criticism of the statements concerning vinvid 
and vinberdots not seem quite justified by the text. "The 
grapes," he says, "are discovered in winter, nay even in 
spring (!), the man who found them gets drunk from eat- 
ing the fruit (!), the grapes are gathered too in the spring (!), 
and the ship's boat is filled with them (!). And again, the 
vines {vinvid) are spoken of as big trees, which are felled 
in order to be used as timber (!)." But, as seen on page 87, 
the text of the saga reads as follows : ' ' and each day we will 
either gather vinber or cut vinvid and fell trees, so as to ob- 
tain a cargo of these for my ship. ... It is said that their 
after-boat was filled with vinber. A cargo was now cut for 
the ship, and when the spring came, they made ready and 
sailed away." It does not, therefore, appear from the text, 
as Storm asserts, that vinber were discovered or gathered 
in the spring, or that the vines were to be used as timber. 



138 THE VOYAGES OF 

but it is clearly stated that trees were felled. As regards the 
boat full of vinber, it is probably a simple exaggeration, but 
it seems at least possible that the vinber, whether they were 
grapes or other berries, may have been first dried in the sun, 
and that they were finally brought to the ship in the after- 
boat. That dried vinber were known to the Norsemen, and 
probably considered by them as a great delicacy, we learn 
from a letter wTitten in 1308 by Bishop Arne in Bergen to 
Bishop Thord in Greenland. This letter mentions several 
accompanying gifts, among them a cask with vinber [ett fat 
med vinbmuin)* Why the vines should be gathered is not 
clear, but a possible explanation will be discussed in a later 
chapter. 

Storm uses the mention of vinber in the sagas as another 
of his chief arguments in favor of his theory that Karlsefni's 
Vinland was in Nova Scotia. Now the term vinber ^w\\\q}c\. 
occurs so frequently in Gp^ occurs only once in ER^ and 
that is a passage about the Scotch runners, which is almost 
certainly interpolated. Storm, therefore, again bases his the- 
ory essentially on Gp^ in spite of his rejection of that saga. 

Gp repeats the story of the shipwrecked crew and of 
Leif's obtaining the surname "the Lucky," which events 
are stated earlier in FB to have taken place on his return 
voyage from Norway. These repetitions may be due to the 
carelessness of the author of FB^ or they may be due to a 
desire on his part to report the tales as they reached him, 
even if they involved a conflict. Again, these errors cannot 
invalidate in their entirety accounts which are quite inde- 
pendent of them. 

*G//A/, HI, 98. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 139 

Thorvald's Voyage i^Gp) 

This expedition went first to Leifsbooths, and it is considered 
improbable by Storm that Thorvald, as well as Karlsefni 
andFreydis later on, should succeed in finding the same spot 
in the new land. We must, however, bear in mind here the 
great skill of the Norsemen in coastwise navigation, and 
that in all probability they had with them men who, hav- 
ing taken part in previous expeditions, could act as pilots. 
It could be no more difficult, and must have been con- 
nected with far less danger, for the Norsemen to find Leifs- 
booths on the coast of America than it was for them to find, 
for instance, the ice-bound Ericsfiord in Greenland. For 
the Norse sailors such achievements in navigation were, in 
fact, an ordinary occurrence, although, of course, in many 
cases they failed to reach their destination. In this case the 
sagas do not state that Leifsbooths were found without diffi- 
culty; it is merely stated that the Norsemen arrived there. 

Concerning the deserted wooden shed or screen (kornhjdlm 
aftre) found by Thorvald, Storm infers that "this presup- 
poses cultivated grain, contrary to the unanimous tradition. ' ' 
Again, this inference does not seem justified by the text, 
for what the saga really says is that the Norsemen found 
a screen, which (in their opinion, or in the opinion of later 
saga-writers) was for the storage of grain. The Norsemen 
may, of course, have been mistaken as to the purpose for 
which this screen was built, and, in any case, it is not stated 
that the grain was cultivated. 

The story of Thorvald's death, and the events that led 
up to it, as told in Gp^ agree well with the character of 
the Norsemen and the natives. The logical relation between 



140 THE VOYAGES OF 

cause and effect is clearly exhibited. Thorvald and his men 
found on the beach some natives lying under their boats. 
The Norsemen, in their usual high-handed way, killed these 
men, except one, who escaped, and, as might have been ex- 
pected, they were soon after attacked by the natives in great 
force. In the ensuing battle Thorvald was mortally wounded. 
According to ER, a fabulous creature, a so-called uniped, 
came out of the woods, and, without any apparent cause, 
fired an arrow, which hit Thorvald and caused his death. 
The tale in Gp is at least as probable. 

It may be added, finally, that the topographical descrip- 
tion of Vinland given by Thorvald corresponds in a most 
remarkable manner with the coast of America round Cape 

Cod. 

Karlsefni's Voyage 

As told in ER, Karlsefni's voyage comprises in one expe- 
dition all the voyages of Thorvald, Karlsefni, and Freydis, 
as told in Gp. At first sight the account appears to be fairly 
consistent; it contains many interesting details and many 
apparently genuine traits. A critical anal3^sis reveals, how- 
ever, questionable features, which we shall now discuss. We 
shall, moreover, attempt to show that the account of Karl- 
sefni's voyage in Gp^ although less complete than that of 
ER, is superior to it in several points, and hence that it can 
in no case be discarded altogether, as proposed by Storm. 
In the first place, the tale of the two Scotch runners in 
ER is inconsistent with the following part of the account. 
Although these people found vinher and self-sown or new- 
sown wheat, presumably indicating that Vinland had been 
reached, it appears from the first verse of Thorhall Hunter 
that Straumfiord, where the expedition arrived shortly after, 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 141 

was not in Vinland. As pointed out by Finnur Jonsson,* the 
whole passage about these runners may be removed without 
disturbing the narrative. He suggests that this tale, which 
in itself is probably historic, was interpolated, having be- 
longed originally to Leif's expedition. It will be remem- 
bered that Leif had obtained these two persons from Olaf 
Tryggvason. The story of Thorhall Hunter, moreover, is 
inconsistent. When he is preparing to leave Straumfiord, it 
is first stated that he intends to go in search of Vinland, but 
in the last of the verses which he composed on that occa- 
sion he says that he wants to go home to Greenland. Never- 
theless, Karlsefni, as soon as he returns from Hop, goes 
round Kjalarness in order to find Thorhall. 

The version of ER is further weakened by the state- 
ment that, according to some people, Karlsefni spent only 
two months in Hop and returned to Straumfiord the same 
summer. In that case Karlsefni would hardly have built 
houses there, as is stated, and the remarks about the mild 
winter climate must belong somewhere else. 

The fight with the natives is told in ER as follows : The 
Skrcelings, at first peacefully trading with the Norsemen, 
were frightened away by the bellowing of a bull, and this, 
apparently, caused them to return as enemies three weeks 
later. In the fight that ensued, the Skraelings threw a great 
ball-shaped body amongst the Norsemen ; this ball made 
such a terrific noise that Karlsefni and his men were fright- 
ened and fled. Soon after, Freydis, who was pregnant, came 
out of the house, and, not being able to follow the men, 
she was left behind. She took up a sword, which she found 

* Erik den Rodes Saga og Vinland, Historisk Tidsskrift, Kristiania, 1911, 
series v, vol. i. 



142 THE VOYAGES OF 

by the dead body of Thorbrand Snorrason, laid bare her 
breast, and struck it with the sword. This so terrified the 
Skraslings that they fled to their boats and rowed away. It 
is difficult on the whole to reconcile causes and effects in 
the description of the battle, and the tale is evidently much 
distorted. The chapter about Thorvald's death, the uniped, 
and the capture of the two Skrseling boys is believed by 
Finnur Jonsson to be a modification of an older chapter. It 
seems, indeed, likely that the tale about Thorvald's death 
belongs to another, independent expedition, as represented 
in Gp. 

Turning now to Gp^ we find that the Norsemen, after 
their arrival in Vinland and after having secured food, felled 
trees and hewed timber, apparently during the winter. The 
timber was laid on the rocks to dry. All this seems very nat- 
ural and probable, but is not mentioned in ER^ an omis- 
sion which is the more strange as the acquisition of timber 
must have been of the greatest value and importance to the 
Norse Greenlanders. We find also in G/>that the Skrcclings 
were frightened by the bull, but this did not, according to 
Gp^ lead to any fight; the Skraslings simply fled, and tried 
to escape into Karlsefni's houses. 

Karlsefni's cautious attitude towards the Skraslings, as 
described in G/>, is characteristic of an experienced chief- 
tain. He promptly prohibits the Skrcclings to enter the 
houses, and forbids the sale of weapons. After the first, 
though peaceful, meeting with the Skraslings, Karlsefni has 
his men construct a fence of palisades around his houses, 
and everything is put in readiness for defence. At the next 
visit of the Skraslings, one of them tries to steal weapons, 
and is killed by Karlsefni's men. This agrees well with the 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 143 

character of the natives on the American coasts, as related 
by later explorers and settlers, nearly all of whom mention 
their thieving propensities. It also agrees with the general 
attitude of the Norsemen toward native populations. These 
important and interesting details are not found in ER. 

The battle with the natives is described in Gpas follows : 
After the above mentioned incident, when the Skrasling was 
killed, the natives fled. Karlsefni, who now anticipated an 
attack, stationed ten of his men in a certain position where 
they had the woods on one side and the lake on the other. 
They were there well prepared to resist a frontal attack, hav- 
ing both flanks protected. Karlsefni, moreover, prepared 
a surprise attack on the flank or rear of the enemy, by let- 
ting the main body of his men cut a path through the 
woods, from which they were ordered to debouch when 
the enemy advanced. The effect of the flank movement was 
to be increased by driving the bull, of which the Skraslings 
seemed to be very much afraid, ahead of the men through 
the woods. These tactics were successfully carried out. It 
will be admitted that throughout this narrative the causes 
are clearly stated and are in themselves natural and prob- 
able. The battle as planned by Karlsefni is in accordance 
with sound military principles. 

As to the chronology of Karlsefni's expedition, Storm 
says that "only the time 1003-1006 can be reconciled with 
the Eyrbyggja Soga, according to which the sons of Thor- 
brand leave Iceland either in the year 1000 or one of the 
next following summers in order to join Karlsefni's expe- 
dition." The statement in the Eyrbyggja Saga, to which 
Storm refers, has already been quoted in full, and we shall 
here merely repeat certain sentences : ' 'After peace had been 



144 THE VOYAGES OF 

concluded between the Eyrbyggja and the Alptafiord men, 
Thorbrand's sons, Snorri and Thorleif Kimbe, went to 
Greenland. . . . Snorri went with Karlsefni to Vinland the 
Good . ' ' The peace referred to was concluded in the spring of 
998, in which year or soon after, therefore, Snorri and Thor- 
leif may be expected to have gone to Greenland. According 
to ER, Snorri went to Greenland together with Karlsefni, 
but as Storm puts this event at 1002, that is, four years 
after the peace had been concluded, his chronology does 
not correspond with th&Eyrbyggja Saga. In fact, if Storm's 
chronology is right, there is on this point a conflict between 
ER and the Eyrbyggja Saga. If wq follow the latter, \\t 
may assume that Snorri went to Greenland in 998 or 999, 
that is, some years earlier than Karlsefni ; that on his arrival 
in Greenland he settled ; and that he later joined Karlsefni 
on his expedition to Vinland. In such a case, there is no ne- 
cessity for supposing that this expedition left Greenland in 
1003 ; it may have sailed somewhat later, even several years, 
without conflict with the Eyrbyggja Saga. 

Freydis's Voyage {Gp) 

This narrative is very realistic and free from all fabulous 
features, but on the other hand it is remarkably silent on 
all points concerning the voyage or the new country. It is 
the account of a treacherous, ill-tempered woman of strong 
character and a weak man who is led by his wife to com- 
mit a hideous crime, but nothing is told that is inconsistent 
with human nature, and has not its parallel elsewhere in the 
history of the Norsemen. (Compare the stor}^ of Hallgerda 
in the Saga of Burnt A'jal.) That this narratiA e should be 
pure fiction, given as it is with many details and in the most 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 145 

realistic manner, seems improbable ; but it may well be that 
it is exaggerated. 

It is said that Freydis made great efforts to conceal her 
evil deed, but the truth leaked out at last, and reached her 
brother Leif. He disapproved strongly of what his sister 
had done, but it seems not unlikely that he kept the story 
to himself, and that it was not generally known till many 
years later, so that in the meantime a false version of the 
voyage was given out and gained credence. Such wilful mis- 
representation of the facts may perhaps account to some ex- 
tent for the discrepancies between the main saga accounts. 
It is worth noting that the same woman who in one saga is 
represented as having saved the whole party by her valor, 
is in the other saga represented as treacherous and cruel, 
and as the instigator of crime. This points to strong par- 
tiality on the part of the authors of these sagas, and shows 
that different interests, and perhaps different points of view, 
produced absolutely conflicting accounts of the same per- 
sons and events. 

The analysis of Chapter XI leads to the conclusion that 
Freydis' s expedition was not, as represented in Gp^ an in- 
dependent one, but that it formed part of Karlsefni's expedi- 
tion, as represented in ER. The events related in Gp under 
Freydis' s voyage may perhaps have taken place at Straum- 
fiord, while Karlsefni was at Hop, or during the last winter 
of their stay at Straumfiord, 

Summary 

It has been shown how uncertain is the historic foundation 
on which Storm's chronology is established. It would, in 
fact, be easy to advance a different chronology, which would 



146 VOYAGES OF THE NORSEMEN 

be equally consistent with the sagas. As to Bj ami's account, 
we must admit the possibility of its truthfulness. 

Examining Storm's criticisms of Gp point by point, 
they are found to be of little weight. i?i? undoubtedly ranks 
higher than Gp as a literary composition, and for this rea- 
son will appeal more to the Icelandic scholar. Gp is post- 
classic, its origin is unknown, and it contains errors that 
reveal the author's ignorance and carelessness in certain 
respects. All this does not prove, however, that the matter 
contained in Gp is of intrinsically smaller value than that 
in ER. Gp is, on the whole, logical, and contains many 
original and genuine traits, showing that it must be due to 
an .independent although unknown source of information. 
Its errors, improbabilities, and fabulous elements have their 
counterpart in ER. 

In respect to the general framework of the voyages, it will 
be shown in Chapter XI that the truth probably lies be- 
tween the two sagas. As previously pointed out, these ac- 
counts may be considered as reflected images fixed on paper 
in a confused order. Events and descriptions which belong 
to one account have been in several cases transferred to 
another by a process of interpolation and mingling, and by 
the resulting superposition and mixing we are left in both 
of the main saga narratives with a blurred picture of the 
events. If the subject is approached with an open mind, 
without any a priori conclusions, it will probably be admit- 
ted by most students that the two versions rank about equal 
as regards their historic value. This conclusion is strongly 
supported by the ethnographical and geographical analysis 
of later chapters. 



CHAPTER VIII 

VINLAND AND ITS ATTRIBUTES 
ViNLAND 

THE word Finland (with long i) is generally understood 
to mean " the land of the wine ; " but Professor Sven 
Soderberg * has suggested that it should be translated ' ' the 
land of pastures," the first element being the word vin (with 
short z), meaning pasture, which is known to have been 
used in prehistoric times in Norway, that is, before about 
800. Finnur J6nsson,t while admitting that the word vin 
occurs frequently in old geographical names in Norway, 
asserts that it is entirely unknown in Iceland, and that it 
had already become obsolete by the time Iceland was settled. 
It is, therefore, highly improbable, he argues, that this old, 
long-forgotten word should have been applied to the land 
newly found in the year 1000. He points out, moreover, that 
in Gp the name is in one place written " Vijnland," bear- 
ing testimony to the length of the vowel, for vowels were 
not generally written double except to indicate a long sound. 
Finally, Thorhall Hunter obviously refers to wine in his 
verse : ' ' komat vin a gron mina, " " wine did not come on my 
Hp," which shows the traditional conception of the land, 
and the traditional pronunciation of its name. 

This opinion is strongly supported by the story about 
Tyrker in Gp. Tyrker, who was a German, reported that 
he had found vinber, which in this case clearly meant grapes, 
for when Leif expressed doubt, Tyrker asserted that he was 

*Sydsvenska Dagbladet Sndlljxosten , October 30, 1910. 

\Krik den Rodes Saga og Finland, Historisk Tidsskrift, Kristiania, 1911, 

series v, vol. i. 



148 THE VOYAGES OF 

born in a land where there was no lack either of vinvid or 
vinber. That the saga-writer at any rate had real grapes in 
mind is further evidenced by the fact that Tyrker is said 
to have become intoxicated, presumably from eating the 
grapes, however improbable or impossible this may be in it- 
self. We read also that they filled their boat with vinber^ and 
in the next sentence it is stated that Leif named the land in 
accordance with its products, and called it V'mland. There 
can hardly be any doubt, then, as to the meaning of this 
name. It must be admitted that it means "wineland." 

On the other hand, although it would appear, to judge 
from certain statements in the sagas, that the Norsemen 
actually did find grapes on some of the voyages, we cannot 
read the text through without our suspicion being aroused 
on this point. The saga-tellers evidently took special pains to 
substantiate the claim that wine-producing fruits were found 
in the new land, as the tale about Tyrker shows. When- 
ever vinber are mentioned, they occur in connection with 
vinvid, self-sown wheat, and in some cases ;;?«,«/r wood, all 
referred to in the same conventional manner, as if they were 
necessary adornments of the account. It is a curious fact, 
already pointed out, that the word vinber hardly occurs in 
ER, being here replaced by vinvid (vines), both on Leif's 
voyage and on Karlsefni's voyage to Hop. Those who, like 
Storm, hold that Gp is unreliable, find little support in the 
sagas for the theory that the Norsemen saw any grapes. 

Now if grapes were not found at all by the Norsemen, 
it will be asked why should vinber be mentioned so persist- 
ently in Gp? and why should the name Vinland have been 
given to the new land ? To these questions there are several 
answers. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 149 

One explanation , already discussed in a previous chapter, 
is that advanced by Nansen, who asserts that the notion 
of Vinland, with its attributes grapes and wheat, was bor- 
rowed from ancient legends and myths. 

A second explanation is that while the accounts of the 
voyages were based essentially on facts, there was a tend- 
ency on the part of the explorers, and perhaps also on the 
part of the saga-tellers, to represent Vinland as a wonderful 
land of plenty, where, in particular, were found those goods 
which to the Greenlanders must have appeared valuable : 
namely, grapes, wheat, and rare wood. These exaggerations 
may have been due to a desire to make the voyages appear 
more marvellous, or they may have been made for the pur- 
pose of inducing people to settle in the new land. We have 
already seen that Eric the Red for this latter reason gave the 
name Greenland to the region which he had explored. That 
errors of this order are likely to occur is strikingly illustrated 
in the reports of Jacques Cartier's expedition, where the 
identical attributes of grapes and wheat are interpolated by 
later writers, and where the description of the land in some 
cases exhibits obvious exaggerations. 

In the account of Cartier's voyage to the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence in 1534, which is given in the French edition 
published by Raphael du Petit Val in 1598,* we find 
the following description of the Isle de Brion, one of the 
Magdalen group : ' ' These islands have the best soil that 
we have ever seen. . . . We found them full of large trees, 
prairies, fields covered with wild wheat \^froment sauuage\ , 
and with peas in flower as dense and beautiful as can be 
seen in Brittany, and which seem to have been soAvn by 

* M. H. Michelant, Voyage de Jaqves Cartier, 1534, Paris, p. 35. 



150 THE VOYAGES OF 

man. We saw there, moreover, great quantities of grapes 
with white flowers above,* strawberries, roses of Provence, 
parsley, and other herbs of good and fine odor." 

Now, in 1867 there was discovered in the Bibliotheque 
Imperiale in Paris a manuscript which is considered by 
historians to be the true and original report. La Relation 
Onginale^ of the voyage, given by Cartier himself. f It con- 
tains the following version of the same paragraph : ' ' This 
island has the best soil that we have ever seen. . . . We 
found it covered with beautiful trees, prairies, fields of wild 
grain {ble sauvage), and of peas in flower as dense and beau- 
tiful as can be seen in Brittany, and which seemed to have 
been sown by man. There are many gooseberries, strawber- 
ries, and roses of Provence, parsley, and other good herbs of 
fine odor." It will be noticed that no mention is here found 
of grapes or wheat. The reference to grapes recurs, more- 
over, in the edition of Petit Val, not only in case of Isle de 
Brion, but also in the description of Prince Edward Island 
and Chaleur Bay. We find there mentioned "white and red 
grapes with a white flower above, "| instead of "white and 
red gooseberries" in C^riitv'' s Relation Originale (cf. Chap- 
ter X). It seems certain that these changes in the original 
report were made by some early editor of the account. The 
persistency with which the word grapes {imsin) was inter- 
polated in the Petit Val edition is curiousl}" analogous to the 
repeated occurrence of the term vinher in Gp. 

We shall now give the description of the same island or 

* Uon y TJoyoU aussi grande quantite de raisin ayant lajieur blanche dessus. 
t H. Michelant and A. Ramee, Relation Originale du Voyage de Jacques 
Cartier au Canada en 1534, Paris, 1867, p. 19. 
X Raisin blanc et rouge ayant lajieur blanche dessus. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 151 

islands by later authorities, and it will be seen that even 
Cartier's original report contains gross exaggerations. Nic- 
olas Denys * writes in 1672: "Returning to our islands 
Brion and Magdalen, they are but rocks covered by some 
pines mixed with birch trees." In a recent description by 
John M'Gregorf we read: "The soil of these (Magdalen) 
islands . . . yields barley, oats, and potatoes; and wheat 
would likely grow, but the quantity of soil fit for cultivation 
is no more than the fishermen require for potato gardens, 
and a little pasture. Some parts are covered with spruce, 
birch, and jumper trees; others are formed into sandy downs, 
producing but grass ; cranberries, juniper berries, and va- 
rious other wild fruits are abundant. A few miles to the 
north, Brion and Bird Islands are situated. Multitudes of 
aquatic birds frequent them for the purpose of hatching." 
If the relation of Cartier, written on the voyage or immedi- 
ately after, could be thus exaggerated, it must be admitted 
that the sagas, or some of them, written down long after the 
voyages took place were liable to suffer from the same defect. 
Another example of this habit of associating the exist- 
ence of grapes with the conception of richness occurs in the 
work of Nicolas Denys, referred to above. Denys deprecates 
the prevailing tendency of people to condemn a new land at 
once if it does not yield wine. He explains at length that 
other things are far more important and necessary to the set- 
tlers in a new country, but adds that, in spite of this criti- 
cism. La Nouvelle France (as the new colony in America 
was called) produces a native vine, and that the grape ripens 
there to perfection. 

* JVatural History of the Coasts of JVorth America, Toronto, 1908. 
^^ -British America, 1833, I, 474. 



152 THE VOYAGES OF 

A third explanation of the origin of the name Vinland 
and of the mention of vinber is that the Norsemen may have 
found some fruit which they confused with the true grape, 
or, perhaps, that the term vinbei'wvi^ used loosely by them 
to mean, not only the true grape, but also certain other ber- 
ries.. We are thus led to inquire into the use and meaning 
of the term. 

The name "Vinland the Good" {Vinland hit Goda) oc- 
curs in most of the Icelandic sources, including ii'i?, where 
it is used in connection with Karlsefni's voyage. It does 
not occur anywhere in Gp, nor in Ari Erode 's Islejidinga 
Book, nor in Adam of Bremen . The epithet ' ' the Good ' ' 
may have been adopted in order to distinguish the Vin- 
land of the Icelanders from Vendland on the Baltic, which 
was sometimes called Vinlandia. 

Vinber 

As long as no positive proof exists that the term vinber 
has been wrongly inserted in the sagas, the correct interpre- 
tation of this word is of considerable interest on account of 
its intimate connection with the geographical aspect of the 
problem. Wild grapes occur all along the Atlantic coast of 
America as far north as the southern part of New Bruns- 
wick (Lescarbot) ; but it seems doubtful whether they 
were ever found in Nova Scotia, and it is certain that they 
were not found in Newfoundland or Labrador, If, then, 
vinber means grapes, and they were actually found, we at 
once obtain a northern limit for the latitude of Vinland. 

Storm held that vinber mt^nX. grapes, and Dr. Gudbrand 
Vigfusson Avas of the same opinion.* It has already been 

* Icelandic English Dictionary, Oxford, 1874. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 153 

shown that the term was undoubtedly used in that sense in 
the sagas in certain cases, and we have unequivocal evidence 
that it was so used also outside the sagas, as in the Old Norse 
Bible called Stjom. In this book, which was written before 
the middle of the thirteenth century, we find the following 
passage in the First Book of Moses ^ chapter xl: 

"9.1 thought that I saw a vine before me ' ' {Ekpottiz sia 
einn uinuid Jyrir mer). 

"lO. And on the vine were three branches [a huerhim 
uaru III uinuidiss teinungar) ; and it was as though it budded , 
and her blossoms shot forth; until the clusters thereof brought 
forth ripe grapes " {par til er sealf uinherin rbskuduz). 

"11. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and then I 
took the grapes {tok ek pa uinberin)^ and pressed them into 
Pharaoh's cup and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand." 

We have already referred to the letter which was written 
in 1308 by a bishop in Norway to a bishop in Greenland, 
where a cask of vinber is mentioned. It is generally believed 
that the vinber there referred to were raisins, that is, dried 
grapes. In any case, it is an established fact that the word i;m- 
ber was used in a number of cases to signify the true grape, 
while it is not known that it was used in any other sense 
by the Norsemen when these voyages took place. It cannot 
be asserted that the word vinber ma.j not at that time have 
had a wider meaning, comprising also certain berries, such 
as currants and cranberries, but it is extremely unlikely 
that the Norsemen should confuse these with the ordinary 
large European grape, with which they were probably well 
acquainted. 

The opinion that the word vinber was used by the Norse- 
men to signify berries other than the true grape has been 



154 THE VOYAGES OF 

advanced by the botanist, Professor M. L. Fernald, who in 
an interesting essay * has attempted to identify the vinber^ 
the ' 'self-sown wheat, ' ' and the ''masur wood' ' of the sagas 
with plants and trees indigenous on the coasts of the North 
American Continent and in Newfoundland. For the present 
we shall deal only with his study of the term vinber. Fernald 
states that ' ' a search of botanical writings from the earliest 
herbals to the latest publications upon the colloquial names 
of plants in Scandinavia and Great Britain fails to reveal any 
use of either the name vmberov Wineberry for the grape," 
but we have already shown that the term vinber was actu- 
ally used to signify grapes in Old Norse, and Bjorn Haldor- 
son's dictionary of the Icelandic language gives no other 
translation of the word. Hence the omission of the early 
botanists, to whom Fernald refers, simply shows, either 
that they did not know the Icelandic language, or that they 
did not choose to include the Icelandic terms in their list of 
botanical names. 

The berries to which the Norsemen, according to Fer- 
nald, most probabl}^ referred Avhen using the term vinber 
are the following. First: red currants, of which two kinds 
are found on the eastern coast of North America. Of these 
the ribes triste resembles the ordinary European red currants 
{ribes rubrum and ribes vidgare)^ which by the Norwegians 
are called vinbser, by the Swedes 7vda vinbdr, and which 
are still known as ' ' wine-berries ' ' in the northern counties 
of England and Scotland. Second: black currants {ribes 
lacustre), which are likewise found on the coast of eastern 
North America. The European variety is n(^<?^ nigrutn, which 
is known in northern Scodand as "wine-berry," in Sweden 

* JVotes on the Plants of Wineland the Good {Rhodora, February, 1910) . 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 155 

as svarte vinbdr. Both red and black currants were confused 
by early botanists with the corinth {vitis) of southern Europe. 
From both currants wine was made in the north and else- 
where. Third: mountain cranberries {vaccinium vitis-idxa), 
which abound from northern Labrador southward to New- 
foundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and around the 
coast of Nova Scotia to Penobscot Bay in Maine. It is the 
most important berry in the northern half of Labrador. 
Southward of lat. 51° it is found only on the summits of 
barren rocky hills, but to the north, as open barren spaces 
increase, it soon becomes abundant, and about Hamilton and 
Big Rivers it is everywhere very plentiful. The berries are 
gathered annually by the inhabitants before the ground is 
covered by snow, for use during the long winter. The fruit 
is found in perfection immediately after the disappearance 
of the snow in the spring, and continues good for several 
weeks, until the juices are dried up by thesun. The European 
variety is known in England and Scotland as red whortle- 
berry. By early herbalists, as late as the end of the sixteenth 
century, it was supposed to be a true grape, and was iden- 
tified with the vitis-idasa of Pliny. At that time it bore in 
England and Scotland the name of "wine-berry." Fernald 
adds, however: "In none of the modern Scandinavian floras 
is the writer able to find the name Finbaer used for vaccinium 
vitis-idaea, and it is possible that the name [wine-berry] 
was used only in England and Scotland, but in many dif- 
ferent regions in the North, wine, brandy, or other alcoholic 
beverages were formerly prepared from the berries." 

Fernald comes to the conclusion that the vinber of the 
early Norsemen was either the red or black currant or the 
mountain cranberry. In determining the exact species gath- 



156 THE VOYAGES OF 

ered by the Norsemen in Vinland, Fernald finds a clue in 
the following statement in Gp regarding Leif's voyage: 
"It is said that their after-boat was filled with vinher. A 
cargo was now cut for the ship, and when the spring came, 
they made ready and sailed away." Fernald argues that, 
since mountain cranberries are so abundant on the coasts 
of America most likely to have been visited by the Norse- 
men, and since spring is the very season where this fruit 
is in its prime, we may conclude that the vinber of the sagas 
was most probably the mountain cranberry {vaccinium vitis- 
idaea), which bears in its specific name a token of its long 
confusion by early botanists of northern Europe with the 
grape, and, at least as late as 1633, bore the folk-name 
"wyneberry" in England and Scotland. It must here be 
observed that the confusion of the early botanists to which 
Fernald refers was not between the cranberry and the grape 
in general, but only its specific variety vitis-idasa, the so- 
called "zante currant," a very small-sized grape no larger 
than a pea, which reached northern Europe in its dried 
state as a kind of small raisin. The cranberry could not, of 
course, be confused by any one with the ordinary large Euro- 
pean grape {vitis vmifera) . Apparently, Fernald, like Storm, 
overlooked the fact that the saga does not state that vinber 
were gathered in the spring, but merely that the ship sailed 
in the spring. 

If, now, we review Fernald 's investigation, we find that he 
has established the following points. Early botanists, at least 
as far back as the end of the sixteenth century, confused the 
currants and the mountain cranberry with the corinth {vitis- 
idsea) of southern Europe — not with the ordinary large grape 
{vitis villi f era) . The Wdivnevinbaeris now used in Scandinavia, 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 157 

and is known to have been used there as far back as the 
eighteenth century, for currants, but not for cranberries. 
The name ' ' wine-berry, "or " wyneberry , ' ' is known to have 
been used in England and Scotland for both currants and 
cranberries, but we do not know how far back. All three 
kinds of berries, that is, red and black currants and cran- 
berries, were and are still used for making wine. 

The correctness of Fernald's theory e\'idently depends 
largely on whether the term vinber was already applied to 
such berries at the time of the Norsemen's voyages to 
America. On this point, however, his essay gives no infor- 
mation ; it merely shows that the term was so used as far 
back as the eighteenth century. Now, it appears that vin- 
ber originally meant the true grape from which wine was 
made, and it seems likely that the extension of this term 
to comprise other berries took place when these berries 
commenced to be used for making wine. It is, therefore, 
of interest to examine when this may have taken place. 

According to Schiibeler, the red currant grows wild all 
over northern Europe, and on the Scandinavian peninsula 
as far as lat. 70° 30'. It seems certain that the cultivation 
of this berry spread from Scandinavia to central Europe, 
and it is said that the Scandinavians brought it to Nor- 
mandy in the Viking Period, whence its name uva trans- 
marina^ often used by botanists in the fifteenth and six- 
teenth centuries.* 

Gunnerus (1766) says that the people of Kristiania pre- 
pared wine from red currants, but in Bishop PauPs Sagaf 

* For the information contained in this paragraph the author is indebted to 
Mr. Zeiner-Lassen, horticulturist of Helsenore, Denmark, 
t GHM, II, 764. 



158 THE VOYAGES OF 

we find a much earlier record of the preparation of wine 
from berries of a similar kind. In this saga we are told that 
on a visit of Bishop Jon from Greenland to Bishop Paul 
in Iceland, in the year 1203, "Bishop Jon taught people 
[in Iceland] how to make wine from krsekiber by a formula 
which King Sverre had given him. But it happened that 
the next summer was an off year for berries in Iceland ; 
still a man, by the name of Eirekr, who lived on a farm called 
Snorrastadir, near Skalholt, succeeded in making some good 
wine that same summer." The krsekiber htve. referred to is 
empetnim mgnim^ the black cranberry of North America. 

It seems unlikely that the knowledge of the preparation 
of wine from such berries should have existed generally in 
Norway a long time before it was brought to Iceland, and 
it is, therefore, at least improbable that the name vinber 
was applied generally in Scandinavia to berries other than 
the grape at the time of the Vinland voyages. We see that 
it was not, in any case, applied to krsekiber. 

Taking into account all the points of the foregoing dis- 
cussion, it appears that if the Norsemen have applied the 
term vinber to currants or cranberries, it has been as a con- 
scious exaggeration. Later saga-writers may have added 
corroborative details of their own invention with the pur- 
pose of proving that real grapes had been actually found. 

ViNVID 

The term viiwid, which means vine, occurs frequently both 
in Gp and in £Ji. In the former it is generally mentioned 
together with vifiber, but in £R only vinvid is mentioned 
(except in case of the Scotch runners). In Gp it is stated 
that vinvid was gathered, as if it were an article of great 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 159 

value. It is not easy to understand why these vines were 
gathered, but one explanation may be suggested here. 

The Norsemen used largely ropes and cords of hide, but 
this material is not well suited when it is exposed to wet- 
ness. Thus, for tying the bottom planks of the ships to the 
frames, we know that roots or withies were used, as in the 
Gokstad ship. The author has tested wild grapevines. As 
long as they are fresh, they are exceedingly strong and 
flexible. Vines, even of from one-quarter to three-eighths 
of an inch in diameter, will stand bending to an arc of a ra- 
dius equal to the diameter without breaking. If the vines are 
kept moist, they will preserve their strength and flexibility. 
Thus vines that had been left outdoors an entire winter were 
found to have lost nothing in respect to these qualities, while 
vines which had been kept dry indoors were brittle and 
would stand bending to only a small angle before break- 
ing. Whether vmvid were true grapevines or other vines, it 
seems possible, therefore, that the Norsemen may have used 
them as binding material for certain purposes. 

Self-Sown Wheat 

Self-sown wheat is mentioned three times in ER.- first, on 
Leif's return voyage from Norway (" There were self-sown 
wheat-fields and vinvid growing there") ; second, on Karl- 
sefni's expedition, where one of the Scotch runners brings 
an ear of newly sown or self-sown wheat; third, on Karl- 
sefni's expedition in Hop ("They found there on land self- 
sown wheat-fields on the low land, but vmvid where the 
ground was high"). Self-sown wheat is not mentioned in 
Gp. We find no statement in the sagas that the Norsemen 
made any use of this wheat, or that they carried it home 



160 THE VOYAGES OF 

with them to Greenland. As in case of the grapes, we must 
admit as a possible explanation that the wheat was attrib- 
uted arbitrarily to the new land as a testimony to its rich- 
ness. 

Though most authorities agree that the mention of self- 
sown wheat is founded on some fact, opinions differ as to 
what the real foundation was. Some take the self-sown wheat 
to be Indian corn, but Storm and Reeves are of the opinion, 
first advanced by Schiibeler, that it was the American wild 
rice. Professor Fernald maintains that neither Indian corn 
(maize) nor wild rice was likely to have been mistaken by 
the Norsemen for wheat. Indian corn differs widely from 
wheat, and even wild rice differs considerably in being a 
much larger grass, with much wider leaves than wheat, and 
with the flowers and grains in a loose open panicle twelve 
to sixteen inches long and two to six inches in diameter. The 
grass which, according to Fernald, is most likely to have 
been referred to by the Norsemen as self-sown is elymus are- 
narius^ the Icelandic rnelr. Fernald' s arguments are briefly 
as follows. The wild eii/mus arenanus has been used as wheat 
by the Icelanders since the discovery of their island. It oc- 
curs in Iceland, in Greenland, and from eastern Baffin Land 
southward along the coast of Labrador in great abundance 
to theGulf of St. Lawrence. It is likewise found abundantly 
in Newfoundland and on the continent locally to Penobscot 
Bay, Maine, reaching its extreme southern limit on the Isles 
of Shoals (off Portsmouth, New Hampshire). The places 
where this strand-wheat grow are described as looking from 
a distance like fields of grain.* 

When we consider the facts that all attempts made by the 

* Peter Kalm, Reise nach dem nordlichen Amerika, 1764. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 161 

Icelanders to cultivate corn (wheat) in the neighborhood of 
Reykjavik have failed ; that the Icelanders in the eleventh 
century had a wild grain which they took great pains to har- 
vest, and at the present time are largely dependent upon the 
seeds of the wild elymus arenarius^ which many prefer to the 
imported wheat; and that this grass bears in Iceland and 
Scandinavia such folk-names as vild hvede (wild wheat), 
strandhvede (strand wheat), hvedegrses (wheat-grass), saiid- 
havre{s2in6. oat), melr said we/^ras^ (meal-grass), there can be 
no question, Fernald concludes, that the hveiti of the early 
Norsemen was elymus arenarius. 

Finnur Jonsson, on the other hand, maintains that elymus 
arenarius has been called melr^ and nothing but 7nelr^ by the 
Icelanders from the tenth century, and it is not likely, he 
argues, that in Vinland they should have called it wheat. 
Moreover, the other names for elymus arenarius mentioned 
by Fernald are all foreign to Iceland. 

On the whole, then, it seems reasonable to conclude that 
the sjdlf-sdnir hveitiakrar of the sagas are of the same order 
as the froment sauuage and ble sauvage of the French ex- 
plorers some five hundred years later ; that is, that they are 
either a pure product of the imagination, or else that they 
refer to certain grasses which, on first view, resembled 
wheat, but of which nothing was heard later because they 
proved of no value. 

Captain Cartwright (l77l) mentions that near Chateau 
Bay on the Labrador coast of the Strait of Belle Isle, in the 
month of May, he saw fourteen deer (caribou) feeding upon 
wild rye, which appeared through the snow. 



162 THE VOYAGES OF 

Masur Trees 

JUastir trees or masur wood, the third of the attributes of Vin- 
land, is mentioned only twice in the sagas, namely in £Ji, 
on Leif's return voyage from Norway, where it is stated: 

there were also those trees which are called masur;'''' and in 
Gp, on Karlsefni's voyage to Norway, where he sells his 
house-ornament, which was of masur wood from Vinland. 

That the masur tree is a birch seems to be conclusively 
proved by Fernald, of whose discussion of this question we 
shall here give a brief abstract. When we turn to the writ- 
ings of Scandinavian botanists, we find the name masur 
applied only to the birch. Thus Linnaeus, writing in 1737 of 
the birch trees of Lapland, says: "Knobs, tuffs, protuber- 
ances, or prominences are often put forth in old birches 
from the middle of the trunk, which are firmer than the rest 
of the wood, since they consist of fibres twisted and entwined 
{masur-lup7ie) .Yyovh these they [the Laplanders] make their 
small vessels for food and drinks." 

Schiibeler, in his Pjlanzenivelt Norwegens, speaks of the 
7nasur'knohs in similar terms, and says that they are apt to 
have a more or less well-marked hemispherical form, and 
may reach a diameter of from one to two feet ; they were 
used in olden times in Norway for bowls and other vessels. 
In the Saga of Harald Haardraade there is an account of 
a jnasurbolli (drinking-bowl) in the year 1086. Such masur 
wood was rare and very highly prized by the early Norse- 
men. 

Fernald concludes that the tree referred to in the sagas 
is most probably the white birch, which in America is rep- 
resented by the canoe birch [hetula alba or papyrifera) . The 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 163 

canoe birch is found on the coast of Labrador, except on 
exposed mountains and headlands, to about lat. 58°. About 
Hamilton Inlet birch is common, and, at the head of the 
Inlet, trees up to ten inches in diameter are not uncom- 
mon. It likewise occurs in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, 
where it reaches from fifty to sixty feet in height and two 
feet in diameter. It extends southward on the coast to Long 
Island. 

When Leif states that he has seen masur trees, he does not 
therewith assert that he has seen masur knobs, but simply 
those trees, that is, birch trees, which occasionally present 
this feature. Since birch is found abundantly on the coasts 
which Leif is likely to have visited, there is nothing strange 
in this statement. It is not, on the other hand, excluded, that 
masur trees may have been added by the explorers or by 
later saga-tellers to the other attributes of Vinland in order 
to emphasize its wealth and wonders. 

Summary 

We have to distinguish clearly between the interpretation 
of the terms discussed in this chapter and the reasons why 
these terms were used in the sagas. 

I. As to the interpretation of the terms, we may sum up 
as follows: (l) The term Vinland is undoubtedly derived 
from the word vin^ wine, and may be translated Wine- 
land. The epithet ' ' the Good " was perhaps added in order 
to distinguish it from Vendland, which was also called Vin- 
landia. (2) The term vinber is known with certainty to have 
been used in the Old Norse language to mean grapes, but 
there is a possibility that in the sagas it is sometimes, as an 
exaggeration, applied to certain berries, such as currants or 



164 VOYAGES OF THE NORSEMEN 

cranberries. (3) The term vinvid means the vine of vinber, 
and its specific meaning will therefore depend upon what 
interpretation is put upon the name vinher. (4) The self-sown 
wheat refers to some wheat-like grass, but it seems impos- 
sible to determine with certainty which kind of grass was 
meant. (5) The masur tree may with tolerable certainty be 
identified with the birch, probably the canoe birch of Amer- 
ica and the valbirkoi Norway, which sometimes exhibit the 
feature of protuberances or knobs, called masur knobs. 

II. The most probable explanations why the terms, as 
here defined, occur in the sagas, may be grouped under 
three heads, (l) The Norsemen may actually have seen wild 
grapes on the coasts of America. (2) They unquestionably 
saw cranberries, wheat-like grasses, and birch trees, which 
may have given rise to their mention of vinber, self-sown 
wheat, and masur trees. (3) The name Vinland, as well as the 
three attributes, grapes, wheat, and masur trees, which are 
attached to it in the sagas, may have been invented with- 
out any real foundation whatever, either by the discoverers 
themselves or by later saga-tellers, in order to adorn their 
tales or to emphasize the good qualities of the new land. 
As will be shown later, the first of these explanations seems 
to apply in particular to Leif's and Thorvald's voyages, the 
second or third to Karlsefni's voyage. 



CHAPTER IX 

ESKIMOS OR INDIANS 

ON account of the uniformity in the mode of Hfe of the 
Eskimo tribes of northeastern America, it is desirable 
to make a few general remarks applicable in common to the 
different tribes of that region.* 

The life of the Eskimos and their distribution are largely 
influenced by the existence and extent of the even land- 
ice formed during the winter. During the greater part of 
the year the land-ice affords the only means of communica- 
tion — by dog-sled — between the tribes, and the seal, which 
constitutes the principal means of subsistence of the Eski- 
mos, takes to those parts of the coast where extensive floes 
are found. The extent of the land-ice is dependent chiefly 
on the configuration of the land and on the strength of the 
currents. On shores exposed to strong currents, extensive 
floes can be formed only in sheltered places, such as deep 
fiords and large bays ; on open coasts, where strong cur- 
rents prevail, pack-ice forms a hindrance to hunting and 
communication. Since the countries inhabited by the Eski- 
mos do not produce sufl[icient vegetation to sustain human 
life, the Eskimos are forced to rely chiefly on animal food. 
Their mode of life is, therefore, regulated by the migrations 
and the accessibility of game and fish, which compel them 
to move their habitations from time to time. 

The seal, which is found in so great abundance in Arc- 
tic America, is the chief factor that enables the Eskimos to 
live in this sterile and inclement region. The skin of seals 

* These remarks are based chiefly on The Central Eskimo, hy Dr. Franz Boas, 
Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, 1888. 



166 THE VOYAGES OF 

furnishes the material for summer garments and tents ; 
their flesh is the chief food ; and their blubber serves as fuel 
during winter. Next in importance is the reindeer, from 
whose heavy skin winter garments are made. 

Seals are plentiful in the spring, and when the rivers and 
ponds break up, salmon are easily caught in shallow rivers. 
During summer, when the snow has melted away, the Es- 
kimos in scattered bands undertake hunting trips inland to 
obtain skins of the reindeer and meat of the fawns, which is 
always highly prized. Now walrus also arrive; ground and 
harp seals are hunted from kayaks. Formed}^ the whale also 
was hunted in koneboats. Birds are abundant. Shrubs are 
used as fuel for cooking purposes. Before the sea begins to 
freeze over, the Eskimos return from their deer-hunting and 
gather at places where they find the best chances to obtain 
food in the autumn. The colder it grows, the more the Es- 
kimos are confined to their huts, and the more dependent 
they become on the seal. When the smaller bays are closed 
by ice, the Eskimos visit the edge of the newly formed floe 
in order to harpoon seals. During the winter, after the fiords 
and channels are frozen over, the seals resort to the sea, 
where they are hunted at the breathing-holes which they 
scratch in the floe-ice. 

The Greenland Eskimos 

The first mention of the Greenland natives is found in Ari 
Erode' s Islendinga Book. It is there stated that when Green- 
land was first settled by Eric the Red, they found "both east 
and west in the country, the dwellings of men, and frag- 
ments of boats, and stone implements, from which it can 
be seen that that kind of people had been here who inhabit 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 167 

Vinland, and whom the Greenlanders call Skraslings." 
This passage was written at least one hundred years after 
the first Vinland voyages took place. It was clearly the na- 
ture of the remains and implements found by the Norse- 
men that led them to decide that these objects belonged to 
the same kind of people as they had met in Vinland. 

In the Flbamanna Saga it is related that natives (there 
referred to as "trolls," supernatural beings) were seen by 
Norsemen when shipwrecked on the east coast of Green- 
land about the year 1000 (see page 72). 

In the Historia JVorwegiae^ written in Norway in the thir- 
teenth century, we find the following statements: "On the 
other side of the Greenlanders, towards the north, the hunts- 
men met some small people called Skrselings. When these 
people are hit by weapons their wounds become white with- 
out blood while they are alive, but when they are dead, the 
blood will hardly stop flowing. But they lack entirely the 
metal iron ; they use the teeth of sea-animals for their spears 
and arrows and sharp stones for knives." However fantas- 
tic this account may appear, it indicates that the Norsemen 
had at that time met the Eskimos, and had had fights with 
them. Probably the reference is to the northern part of West 
Greenland. 

The etymology of the name Skrssling is uncertain. Thal- 
bitzer states* that it is probably an imitation of Karaleq 
or Kalaleq, used by the Eskimos on the middle and south- 
ern part of the west coast of Greenland as a common name 
for themselves. The Eskimos in Labrador knew the name 
Karaleq when the Moravian Brethren came to them from 
Greenland about 1760. 

* Videnskabernes Selskabs Forhandlinger, Copenhagen, 1905. 



168 THE VOYAGES OF 

The information found in the sagas and elsewhere about 
the Greenland Eskimos during the time of the Norse colony 
is, on the whole, remarkably scanty. Some have explained 
this silence of the accounts by the indifference or contempt 
with which the Norsemen regarded the Skraslings. This 
opinion, however, is contradicted by the fact that where the 
accounts do mention the Skraelings, great care and minute- 
ness is employed in describing them; whenever traces of 
them are found, it is mentioned and discussed. We rather 
get the impression that the Norsemen were intensely inter- 
ested in these people.* And if, during the first two centu- 
ries of the settlement in Greenland, they had met the Eski- 
mos frequently, and had known them intimately, we should 
expect to find detailed accounts of them in the sagas, as is 
the case in the reports of the Vinland voyages. 

Probably the Greenland Eskimos were in former times 
very nomadic in their habits. According to Thalbitzer,f the 
different dialects of the Eskimo language in Greenland sug- 
gest that several immigrations occurred from the continent 
across Smith Sound, each tribe having had its own dia- 
lect. It seems likely that the remains found by the Norse- 
men on their first arrival in Greenland were left by the early, 
wandering tribes, who proceeded up the east coast, where 
they may have settled in the Angmagsalik district. Possibly 
some tribes returned to the northern part of the west coast, 
where the natural conditions were more favorable to their 
mode of fishing and hunting. Later, in the fourteenth cen- 
tury, a fresh immigration seems to have taken place, and 



* See the report of the expedition to the far north in 1266. 
t The Eskimo Language, MG, XXXI. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 169 

it was probably the subsequent advance towards the south 
that led to conflicts with the Norse Greenlanders. 

Whatever may have been the cause of the quarrels be- 
tween the Eskimos and the Norsemen, it seems certain that 
by nature the Eskimos were peaceful. Thus John Davis, on 
his first voyage to Greenland in 1585, states that he found 
them to be "very tractable, voyde of craft or double deal- 
ing, and easie to be brought to any civilitie or good order." 
Davis treated the Eskimos with great fairness and kindness, 
and all went well on this voyage. The Eskimos, however, 
were very thievish, and on Davis's second voyage this seems 
to have spoiled their friendly relations in some measure. 

James Hall, who served as pilot on the Danish expedition 
to Greenland in 1605, tells how the Eskimos on one occa- 
sion attacked the ship by throwing stones with their slings 
from the shore. They used their slings so effectively that no 
man could remain on deck until shelter was provided by 
lacing sails to the height of two men along the sides. Hall 
says in his report: "They be very active and warlike, as 
we did perceive in their skirmishes with us, in using their 
slings and darts very nimbly." On a later expedition, in 
1612, Hall was killed by an Eskimo, probably in revenge, 
because on the previous voyage Hall had kidnapped some 
of his friends or relatives. 

We find, in fact, in nearly every case a satisfactory 
explanation of the hostile attitude of the Eskimos, in that 
the Europeans, on practically all of their expeditions, treach- 
erously and brutally kidnapped one or more of the natives, 
whom they carried away to Europe. While the Eskimos 
showed great fighting spirit if provoked by unjust treat- 
ment, they were friendly and helpful if treated with kind- 



170 THE VOYAGES OF 

ness. This opinion is fully confirmed by later experience 
with them. 

Hans Egede, a Norwegian missionary, was the first man 
to go to Greenland for the sake of the natives, and without 
any selfish motive. He was also the first European settler 
after the days of the old Norse colony. He arrived in Green- 
land in 1721 and remained there for fifteen years, learned, 
the language of the natives, ministered to their wants, in- 
troduced the Christian religion among them, and completely 
won their confidence and friendship. His description of the 
Eskimos * in his work on Greenland, published in 1758, is 
the most reliable and complete up to that time. We shall 
here give an abstract of this description. 

The Eskimos spend the whole summer at the head of 
the fiords, scattering in small bands inland; where they 
hunt reindeer, bears, hares, and foxes. On the sea they hunt 
whales, seals, and walrus, and also catch fish and sea-birds. 
They use bows and arrows in hunting the deer, but darts 
and harpoons on the sea. The Eskimos in northern Green- 
land use dogs to drag their sledges on the ice in the winter. 

There are two sorts of Greenland boats. The kayak is 
used only by the men, chiefly in hunting seals and sea-birds. 
It is small, with pointed ends, eighteen feet long and from 
two to two and a half feet broad. It has a round hole in the 
middle, just large enough for a man's body. The boat is 
made of sealskin stretched on a light framework. The man 
sits in the hole, his watertight shirt being laced or tied to 
the skin which covers the deck, so that no water can enter, 
and thus he forms one with the kayak. A double paddle, 
about six feet long, is used. 

* Descrifition of Greenland, London, 1818 (ti-anslation from tlie Danish)- 




1 




Koneboat 

By courtesy of C apt. D. Bruun 




Egede^s Pictwe of Eskimo Houses and Boats 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 171 

The other kind of boat is large, open, and flat-bottomed. 
It is called umiak or koneboat because it is generally rowed by 
the women {kona), who use ordinary long oars. This type 
of boat is employed chiefly for transportation and for whale 
hunting. It is made of sealskin like the kayak, and is pro- 
vided with a mast having a yard and sail, used when going 
before the wind. The sail is made of sealgut. 

The Eskimos have one dwelling for winter and another 
for summer. The winter habitation is a low hut built of 
stone and sod, from six to nine feet high, with a flat roof. 
Windows, made from the gut of the seal, are fitted on one 
side. Several families live together in one house. The en- 
trance is very low. In the summer the Eskimos live in tents 
built of long poles, covered with reindeer or seal skin, of 
conical shape like a sugar loaf. 

They are strong and well built, short rather than tall, in- 
clined to be stout. They have broad faces, thick lips, and flat 
noses. Their hair and eyes are black, and their complexion 
a very dark tawny, "although some are rather fair." They 
can stand hunger for a great length of time. They are com- 
monly of a phlegmatic temper, and live peaceably together, 
observing a regular and orderly behaviour to one another. 
They have a great abhorrence of stealing among themselves, 
yet they do not hesitate to lay hands upon anything belong- 
ing to foreigners. 

Their clothes are made with great skill and taste, chiefly 
of reindeer and seal skins. The men dress in a coat with 
the hair on the inside; it reaches to the knees, and is pro- 
vided with a hood to cover the head and shoulders. Some- 
times the coat ends in a point in front and behind. The 
breeches are short, going from the knees to the loins. Over 



172 THE VOYAGES OF 

the coat is carried a large frock, made of sealskin without 
hair, dressed and tanned, which serves to keep the water 
out when they go to sea. Between the frock and the coat they 
wear the shirt referred to above, made of sealgut, the main 
object of which is to secure watertightness. The stockings 
are of reindeer or seal skin, and the shoes are of sealskin, 
fitting well on the feet. The only diiference between the 
dress of the men and the women is that the women's coats 
are wider and higher on the shoulders ; the hoods also are 
higher and larger. The children are carried in the wide coats 
on the back. The women have very long and thick hair, 
which they braid and tie up in a knot on the head. They 
are often tattooed with black stripes on their faces, arms, 
and hands. 

The Eskimos generally eat flesh raw, but sometimes they 
boil it or dry it in the wind. Fish are caught in the spring 
and dried so as to be used for winter provisions. In the fall 
they catch seal, bury the flesh under the snow, and in the 
winter they dig it up and eat it raw and frozen. 

The dead are buried in graves made of stones thrown 
together in a heap. 

The Eskimo language presents a few remarkable iden- 
tities and resemblances with the Old Norse language. Thus 
the word kona, a woman, used by the Eskimos in Egede's 
time, was used in the same sense by the Norsemen. A por- 
poise, in the Eskimo language nisa^ was in Old Norse called 
hnisa. 

We may supplement this description of Egede with some 
remarks about the present day Eskimos, which probably 
apply also to those of former times. In South Greenland, 
that is, south of Holstensborg, the Eskimos do not keep any 




Eskimo Woman from Greenland 

By courtesy of Caft. D. Bruun 




Eskimos Carrying' Koneboat Overland 

By courtesy of Capt. D. Bruun 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 173 

dogs to drag their sledges, as in North Greenland, where 
the ice is more suitable for this mode of transportation. The 
Eskimos in South Greenland make their living on the sea, 
and dwell on the outer skerries and islands, while those in 
North Greenland live at the bottom of the fiords, where ice, 
which is favorable for catching seal, remains the greater 
part of the year. In migrating or wandering from place to 
place, they often carry their koneboats overland from one 
fiord to another. On such expeditions the boats are used for 
shelter, being placed on the ground inverted or on the side, 
and the Eskimos sleep under them. 

In former days, reindeer were, next to seals, the most 
important means of subsistence among the Greenland Es- 
kimos. 

The Eskimos in Baffin Land* 

The earliest information about these Eskimos comes from 
Martin Frobisher, who, in the years 1576-78, made three 
voyages to Frobisher Bay in Baffin Land. His description of 
these natives is almost identical with that given by Egede of 
the Greenland Eskimos. Frobisher tried to win their friend- 
ship, but it appears that the good relations were disturbed 
by the Eskimos, who, on his first voyage, treacherously 
entrapped and killed five of his men. The following abstract 
of Frobisher' s description supplements and corroborates 
that given by Egede. 

The Eskimos lived in tents during the summer, but in 
caves in the earth during the winter. The winter dwellings 
were made two fathoms underground, round like ovens, and 

* See Pinkerton, Voyages and Tra-vels, London, 1812 ; Hakluyt, The English 
Voyages, vol. v. 



//■ 



174 THE VOYAGES OF 

connected by holes. They were commonly located at the foot 
of a hill, which shielded them from the cold winds, and the 
doors opened towards the south. The roofs were made of 
whalebone covered with sealskins. 

The Eskimos were strongly built and very warlike. They 
were clad in skins of beasts, but they also had garments of 
feathers, made of the cases of fowls, finely sewed together. 
Their weapons were darts, bows and arrows, and slings. 
They were sullen of nature, desperate in their fight, and 
ravenous in their manner of feeding. They ate raw flesh and 
fish. They used sleds drawn by dogs. The men wore their 
hair rather long and disorderly; they had but thin beards. 
The women had long black hair, tied up in two loops, show- 
ing on each side of the face, and the rest folded up in a knot 
in decent order; their faces v/ere marked or painted with 
small blue spots. They carried their suckling children on 
the back. 

It appears that the sling is not used by the modern Es- 
kimo, for it is not mentioned by Egede, Rink, or Boas. 

The following account of how trading was carried on 
with the Eskimos is given in the report of Frobisher's sec- 
ond voyage in 1577: * 

"And thus marching towards our boats, we descried cer- 
tain of the country people on the top of Mount Warwick, 
with a flag wafting us back again, and making great noise, 
with cries like the mooing of bulls, seeming greatly desir- 
ous of conference with us; whereupon the general (Fro- 
bisher), being therewith better acquainted, answered them 
again with the like cries; whereat, and with the noise of our 
trumpets, they seemed greatly to rejoice, skipping, laugh- 

*Pinkerton, Voyages and Travels. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 175 

ing, and dancing for joy. And hereupon we made signs unto 
them, holding up two fingers, commanding two of our men 
to go apart from our companies, whereby they might do the 
Hke. So that forthwith two of our men and two of theirs 
met together, a good space from company, neither party 
having their weapons about them. . . . Their manner of 
traffic is thus : they do use to lay down of their merchandize 
upon the ground, so much as they mean to part withal, and 
so looking that the other party with whom they make trade, 
should do the like, they themselves do depart, and then, if 
they do like of their part, they come again, and take in ex- 
change the other's merchandize; otherwise, if they like not, 
they take their own and depart." 

When thereafter Frobisher's party was about to go away, 
the Eskimos earnestly called them back with tokens of af- 
fection, and Frobisher now seized the opportunity to kidnap 
one of the natives, whom he took on board the ship. 

According to Dr. Boas,* the Baffin Land Eskimos in 
former days lived during the winter in solid houses con- 
structed of stones and sod. Many ruins are found of such 
houses, often dug into the side of the hills, as described by 
Frobisher, with a long stone entrance excavated and partly 
covered over. These Eskimos also value soapstone very 
highly, and of it they manufacture lamps and pots ; but it is 
found in only a few places and, generally, in small pieces. 
It will be remembered in this connection that the Norse 
Greenlanders used soapstone extensively for their utensils. 



* The Eskimos of Baffin Land and Hudson Bay, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., 
vol. XV, New York, 1901. Cf. H. P. Steensby, Eskimokulturens Ofirindelse, 
Copenhagen, 1905. 



176 THE VOYAGES OF 

The Labrador Eskimos 

One of the distinctive traits of the Eskimos, by which they 
have been characterized both by Europeans and by Indians, 
is that they eat raw flesh. Hence their very name, "Eski- 
mos," which in the Algonquin language means "eaters of 
raw flesh." The Eskimos call themselves Innuits (men or 
human beings), while, at least in Labrador and Greenland, 
they call the white men Qavdlunaqs or Kavlunaits. 

The early explorers of Labrador nearly all tell the same 
story about the Eskimos. They first tried to establish friendly 
relations with them, and all went well until, unexpectedly, 
when the Europeans were taken off" their guard, the Es- 
kimos treacherously made fierce attacks upon them. An 
English expedition, which put into a cove on the Labrador 
coast in 1606, had two men killed by the Eskimos, who then 
attacked the ship. They were described as "little people, 
tawny colored, thick haired, with little or no beard, and 
man-eaters."* From the time of the English occupation 
there are accounts of how the Eskimos would fall upon the 
fishermen in the Strait of Belle Isle at night or in foggy 
weather, uttering frightful yells, and how they would attack 
and murder the fishermen in the most barbarous manner. 
So bad was the reputation of the Eskimos that, Cartwright 
says, they have always been accounted the most savage race 
of people upon the whole continent of America. 

As a remarkable contrast to these reports stand the later 
accounts of modern travellers and settlers, who all describe 
the Eskimos as a most gentle and good-natured people. This 
shows how cautious one must be in drawing conclusions as 

*W. G. Gosling, Labrador, New York, 1911. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 177 

to the character and disposition of the same people at differ- 
ent times and under different circumstances. 

As to the geographical distribution of the Eskimos on the 
Atlantic coasts of America in former days, it is difficult to 
arrive at a definite conclusion. It appears doubtful whether 
the Eskimos permanently inhabited the southern coasts of 
Labrador or Newfoundland before the arrival of the Euro- 
peans. Later they appeared in these regions, but perhaps 
chiefly for the purpose of trading and stealing. Cartier does 
not mention having met any Eskimos on the coasts of south- 
ern Labrador which he visited. This problem, which is so 
important in the study of the Norsemen's voyages, must 
await further ethnographical investigation before it can be 
definitely solved. 

When the Moravian Brethren commenced their work in 
Labrador, about the middle of the eighteenth century, there 
were about three thousand Eskimos on the Labrador coast, 
but it seems probable that they were more numerous for- 
merly. At first they used to move about a great deal, but 
by degrees they were induced by the Brethren to adopt less 
nomadic habits and to settle permanently. 

The Eskimo language is spoken in different dialects from 
the east coast of Greenland to the Asiatic side of Behring 
Strait, but the extremes do not differ more than, for instance, 
English and German. According to Thalbitzer,* the lan- 
guage of the Labrador Eskimos seems to stand between the 
dialects of the Mackenzie and the Greenland Eskimos with 
respect to sound system, but yet it most resembles South 
Greenlandish and Middle Greenlandish. The four words of 
the Markland Skr^lings reported in ER — Fsetilldi^ Fsegi 

* The Eskimo Language, MG, XXXI. 



178 THE VOYAGES OF 

{Uvae^i), Avalldamon^ Avalldidida {Vselldidida) — are, he 
thinks,* undoubtedly Eskimo words or sentences, which 
have reached us in a somewhat distorted form. Storm took 
the opposite view ; he asserted that the words could not be 
Eskimo, and by a comparison with some of the few words 
left us from that now extinct tribe, the Red Indians of New- 
foundland, he attempted to prove that the words were In- 
dian. Thalbitzer, however, shows that Storm's objections 
to the words being Eskimo have little weight, and that our 
knowledge of the language of the Red Indians is too incom- 
plete to afford a safe basis for comparison. 

Cartwright states that the Labrador Eskimos had, besides 
kayaks, also larger boats, probably corresponding to the 
Greenlanders' koneboats, and that they had excellent sleds, 
drawn by dogs. In his journal he tells how he traded with 
them, and obtained sealskin of various kinds, and the skins 
of foxes, deer, otter, marten (sable), wolf, and black bears. 

There is a tradition among the Eskimos in Labrador f 
about a fierce race of men of gigantic size and strength, 
who delighted to kill people. But these men themselves could 
not be killed by either darts or arrows, which rebounded 
from their breast as from a rock. The Eskimos suppose that 
these giants still exist, only very far to the north. 

The Indians of Labrador 

There are two main tribes of Indians living in Labrador, 
both of the Algonquin family : the Montaignais, who dwell 
south of Hamilton Inlet, and the Nascopees, who dwell north 
of this boundary. Both are of the lowest Algonquin type ; 

* Videnskabernes Selskabs For handling er, Copenhagen, 1905. 
t Robinson, JSfotes on the Coast of Labrador. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 179 

they are closely related to each other, and live entirely by 
hunting. It appears that the Algonquins were gradually 
driven east and north by the Iroquois during the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries, and w^ere thus forced against the 
Eskimos, with whom they were probably already at war. 
The natives whom Cartier met on the coast of Labrador in 
the Strait of Belle Isle in 1534 were probably Montaignais 
Indians, although it is possible that they may have been 
Red Indians. He describes them as follows in the Relation 
Originale: 

There are people in the said land who are fairly well 
built, but they are wild and savage. They have their hair 
tied upon the head like a handful of hay trussed up, and a 
nail or some other thing passed through it, and they tie some 
feathers on to it. They dress in skins of beasts, the men as 
well as the women, but the women carry the skins closer 
and tighter and girded about the body. They paint them- 
selves with certain tawny colors. They have boats in which 
they go on the sea, made of birch bark, in which they 
catch many seals. After I have seen them, I feel sure that 
they do not live here and that they come from warmer lands, 
in order to catch seals and other things for their living." 

Cartwright states that the Montaignais Indians never 
build huts, but live in wigwams. 

A modern traveller. Dr. C. W. Townsend,* describes the 
Montaignais whom he met on the south coast of Labrador, 
as of a dark, olive-brown complexion, glistening in the sun 
as if they had been oiled, with aquiline noses, black, rather 
narrow eyes, in some set aslant as in the Mongolian type, 
and with hair also straight and black. Some show signs 

* A Labrador Sfiring, Boston, 1910. 



180 THE VOYAGES OF 

of admixture with the white race. The men, when in the 
prime of life, have erect wiry figures and bright, even hand- 
some faces ; while most of them are of medium height, some 
are noticeably tall. The infants are bound up, as all Indian 
papooses, in a bundle which can easily be handled. The 
common posture taken by these Indians is a kneeling one, 
with the body resting on the heels. They spend the greater 
part of the year in the interior, making their annual migra- 
tion to the trading-posts on the coast in May or early in June 
when the ice goes out of the rivers, and returning in August 
and September. This early return to the wilds is partly in 
order to ascend the rivers before they are frozen, and partly 
to be in time for the annual migration of the caribou. For- 
merly Labrador was rich in caribou, beaver, and other 
game, but, due chiefly to the extensive forest fires and per- 
haps to the use of firearms, game is now relatively scarce 
and the Indians are often exposed to starvation. 

The Nascopees have their home on the semi-barrens of 
northeastern Labrador, and live in a more primitive state 
than the Montaignais, whom they resemble in their chief 
characteristics.* 

The Indians of Newfoundland 
We have no evidence that the Eskimos permanently inhab- 
ited Newfoundland. Our earliest information about the na- 
tives of the island seems to be a brief note on a map attrib- 
uted to Sebastian Cabot and now in the National Library 
at Paris. It is there stated that the inhabitants of the land 
that was discovered by John Cabot and his son Sebastian 

* For further information of the Nascopee Indians, the reader is referred to 
William B. Cabot's In A^'orthern Labrador, Boston, 1912. 




Montaignais Indian of Lake St. John 



By courtesy of W. B. Cabot 




Nascopee Indians 

By courtesy of IV. B. Cabot 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 181 

on July 24, 1494, and called by them St. John Island (prob- 
ably the Avalon peninsula), dressed in the skins of animals. 
"They use in war bows, arrows, darts, lances, wooden 
clubs, and slings." This note is of great interest because it 
seems to show that the northeastern Indians also, or at least 
those in Newfoundland, formerly used slings. 

Mr. W. H. Babcock* is of opinion that the sling is an 
archaic American weapon, once in general use by Eskimos 
and Indians ahke, and that it gradually gave way to the 
bow. The early explorers of the sixteenth century found the 
island inhabited by the Beothuks, or Red Indians, the first 
authentic, detailed account of whom we have through the 
Portuguese. In 1501 Caspar Corte-Real discovered New- 
foundland and brought home with him a number of natives, 
who are described in letters from Pietro Pasqualigo and 
Alberto Cantino, Italian ambassadors to the court of Portu- 
gal. These letters are quoted in full by Nansen,t but we 
shall here give merely a brief extract from them. 

Pasqualigo says that the natives looked like gipsies, and 
were of the same appearance, build, and height. They 
painted their faces with figures. According to Cantino, the 
men were somewhat larger than Italians, vv^ere well built, 
and had long hair hanging in locks. Their eyes were green- 
ish, which gave their face a savage expression. The women 
had small breasts, were well built, and attractive in counte- 
nance. Their complexion was rather fair, while that of the 
men was somewhat darker. 

Pasqualigo states that they dressed in skins of different 

* Early JVorse Visits to JSforth America, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collec- 
tion, vol. 59, No. 19, p. 157. 
■\ In JVorthern Mists, New York, 1911. 



182 THE VOYAGES OF 

animals, mostly otter. The skin was not prepared or sewn 
together, but just as it came from the animals. It was thrown 
over the shoulders and the arms, and around the waist it 
was tied with strings made of the sinews of fish. Their 
houses were built of large poles, covered on the outside with 
the skins of fish. According to Cantino, there were on the 
island very large deer (probably caribou), with long hair, 
the skin of which the natives used for clothing as well as 
for their houses and boats. There was no grain in the land, 
but people lived by fishing and hunting. They had no iron, 
but used instead implements of stone. Both writers state 
that the natives painted their faces and that their behaviour 
and manners were mild and friendly ; they laughed a good 
deal and seemed easily pleased. This description corresponds 
fairly well with what we know of the Red Indians from later 
writers. 

The following is abstracted from Sir Richard H. Bonny- 
castle's work on Newfoundland,* Cartwright's Labt'ador 
Journal,'\ and other sources. 

At the time of the first settlement of Newfoundland, the 
Red Indians (so called because they painted themselves with 
red ochre) inhabited in particular the northeastern, north- 
ern, and northwestern part of the island. When first met by 
the Europeans they were universally described as gentle 
and harmless, the only complaint against them being that 
they were given to stealing iron, cordage, and other articles, 
which to them appeared of immeasurable value. In their 
habits, customs, and manners they resembled the Indians 

* Newfoundland in 1842, London, 1842, vol. ii. 

tC. W. Townsend, Ca/itain Cartwright and his Labrador Journal, Boston, 

1911. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 183 

of the continent.* Their tents or wigwams were conical, 
and consisted of a framework of poles covered with skin 
or birch bark. Inside the tent were small cavities dug in 
the earth and lined with moss or the soft branches of trees ; 
these cavities were used as beds, and it is believed that the 
Indians slept in a sitting posture. Close to the wigwams 
were pits, about four feet deep, in which they stored their 
provisions for the winter. They used to dry or smoke the 
meat in special wooden buildings, and it appears that in 
some cases the provisions were stored in small log-houses. 
Cartwright states that besides the wigwams they also had 
houses built substantially of timber. These houses M^ere ten 
or twelve feet square, and the roofs were low pyramids, 
wdth a hole in the top for the escape of smoke. The Indians 
provided for times of scarcity by jerking meat and fish, and 
by making sausages, which consisted of the flesh and fat of 
seals, eggs, and a variety of other rich matter, stuffed into 
sealgut. 

Whitbourne states that the Red Indians constructed ca- 
noes of birch bark, which they paid with gum and tur- 
pentine. The canoes were worked by single-headed paddles. 
The Red Indians were excellent archers, and were skilful 
in dressing the skins of deer, beaver, otter, bear, and seal. 
Their burial-places were of different types. One found by 
Cormack in 1827 was shaped like a hut, four or five feet 
high, and floored with squared poles on which the dead 
bodies were laid at length, wrapped in skins. Another con- 
sisted of a sort of scaffold, some seven feet high. Of the 
language of the Red Indians but very little is known. They 
were gradually exterminated by the Europeans in the most 

* Whitbourne, 1622. 



184 THE VOYAGES OF 

wanton and merciless manner ; the last of them were seen 
in the first part of the nineteenth century. 

The Indians of Nova Scotia 

The natives found in Nova Scotia by the explorers of the 
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were of the Micmac 
tribe, called Souriquois by the French. A closely related tribe 
inhabited New Brunswick, and is mentioned by Cartier, 
who traded with them in Chaleur Bay in 1534. In exchange 
for skins Cartier gave them hatchets, knives, and other 
goods, which they accepted with joy. Cartier states that they 
appeared to be nomads, and that they came there during 
the fishing season to catch fish. 

Not far from Chaleur Bay Cartier met another tribe of 
natives, whom he describes as follows in his Relation Ori- 
ginale: 

"We saw a great number of savages who were engaged 
in fishing mackerel of which there is great abundance. . . . 
These people can truly be called savages, since no poorer 
people can be found in the world. . . . They are quite naked, 
except for a small skin round the hips, and some old skins 
which they throw over themselves scarfwise. They have 
neither the nature nor the language of the first natives whom 
we met (in Chaleur Bay) . Their heads are shorn close all 
around, except for a tuft of hair on top of the head, which 
they let grow as long as the tail of a horse, and which they 
tie in a lump on their head with thongs of leather. They 
have no other dwellings than under their boats, M'hich they 
turn over before lying down on the ground. . . . They never 
eat any food in which there is the least trace of salt. They 
are great thieves, and steal all they can get hold of." 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 185 

Lescarbot* (about 1807) gives the following description 
of the Micmac Indians of Nova Scotia. The men are of good 
height. Their complexion is olive in color, or at least sun- 
burnt like that of the Spaniards, not that they are born wath 
that color, but being mostly naked and smeared with oil, 
they obtain a dirty and sunburnt appearance. In general 
they have black hair, and also their beard is black, but they 
rarely let it grow. Both men and women let the hair flow 
down over the shoulders, although sometimes the men tie 
it up in a bundle on the top of the head with a leather thong. 
They dress in skins, having one skin around their hips, 
and a kind of cloak, made up of several skins attached by 
a leather strap over the shoulders, usually leaving one arm 
outside. The women wear a belt around their skin-cloak. 
They wear also large stockings and moccasins ; they use 
snow-shoes in winter when hunting. 

Since each locality has its particular kind of fish at cer- 
tain seasons, the Indians are forced to a nomadic life. They 
use canoes as a means of transportation, going on board 
with their families, dogs, and all their goods. The canoes 
carry no sail, and have very little stability, so that it is neces- 
sary to sit down low in them in order not to capsize. They 
are of about four feet beam with pointed ends, and high at 
the stem and stern, constructed of the bark of trees, with 
frames of cedar ; the seams are tied together by roots and 
paid with resin of fir. 

They use bows and arrows. The points of the arrows are 
of bone, sometimes fish-bone, and to the ends are attached 
eagle-feathers. They make pots of clay for cooking their 
food, and they cultivate the land ; but they are not indus- 

* Histoire de la JVouvelle France, Paris, 1866, Book VI. 



186 THE VOYAGES OF 

trious except in hunting. The women perform the greater 
part of the field labor. 

Comparison of the Skr^lings with Eskimos and Indians 

It is unnecessary here to repeat the references to the Skrse- 
lings found in the sagas. They were met only on Thor- 
vald's and Karlsefiii's voyages, described in Chapter V, 
which must be read carefully in order to comprehend the 
following discussion. Much confusion has existed as to the 
race of the Skrcelings, but we shall here show that this con- 
fusion can be largely removed by an analytical comparison 
between these natives as described in the sagas and the 
Eskimos and Indians. 

In the Islendinga Book it is stated that the implements 
found in Greenland by the first Norse settlers led them to 
believe that people of the same race as the Vinland natives 
had lived there. Now, there can be no doubt that the people 
who had left those implements in Greenland were Eskimos, 
and hence it may be inferred as probable that at least some 
of the natives of Vinland must have used similar imple- 
ments, and must, therefore, have been Eskimos. Such was 
evidently the opinion of the Norsemen. On the other hand, 
there is reason to believe that, in some cases, the natives 
whom the Norsemen met in America were Indians. 

We shall now discuss separately each of the different 
kinds or groups of natives that are mentioned in the saga 
accounts. 

1 . The Markland Skrseliyigs met by K arise fni on his re- 
turn from Straumjiord to Greenland. These Skraslings we 
believe to have been Eskimos, first, because the four words 
of their language given in the saga {ER) are, according to 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 187 

Thalbitzer, undoubtedly corrupted Eskimo words or sen- 
tences'; second, because the boys caught by Karlsefni stated 
that their people lived in caves or holes. (Compare the 
winter dwellings of the Eskimos described earlier in this 
chapter.) 

2. The uniped. The so-called uniped seen by Karlsefni 
{ER) was probably an Indian. He is not referred to in the 
saga as a Skrseling. He came out of the woods, aggressively 
fired an arrow at the Norsemen, and ran away swiftly. 

3. The Skrselings met by Thorvald {Gp). Thorvald met 
the natives in the summer, and we hear nothing about them at 
all during the two winters that Thorvald spent in Vinland. 
Now, as explained above, during the summer the Eski- 
mos go hunting inland, but during the cold season, includ- 
ing spring and fall, they live chiefly by hunting the seal on 
the floe-ice on the coast. If, therefore, the Skrselings were 
Eskimos, we should expect the Norsemen to have seen them 
in the winter, rather than in the summer, and we should 
expect to have heard about their dogs and dog-sleds. The 
Indians, on ihe other hand, are most likely to appear at 
the coast in the summer, because then they go fishing; in 
the winter they hunt inland, where, in fact, they spend the 
greater part of the year. 

There is thus good reason for believing that Thorvald 's 
Skrselings were Indians, and several other statements in the 
saga support that view, or at least do not conflict with it. 
The wooden shed which the Norsemen thought to be for 
the storage of grain suggests the dwellings, storehouses, or 
burial-places of the Indians. The hillocks seen by Thorvald 
at the bottom of a fiord, and supposed by him to be dwell- 
ings, may as well have been Indian wigwams as Eskimo 



188 THE VOYAGES OF 

houses. The fact that Skraelings were found sleeping under 
their boats on the beach fits the Indians as well as the 
Eskimos. Cartier found Indians sleeping under their boats 
in New Brunswick, but the Greenland Eskimos use their 
koneboats for the same purpose. 

The only statement in the saga which strongly and posi- 
tively indicates that the Skraelings seen by Thorvald were 
Eskimos is that they used skin-boats. While the Eskimos, 
with the exception of the inland Eskimos of Alaska, always 
use skin-boats, there are very few reports of Indians hav- 
ing used anything but boats of bark or wood. In fact, Avhere 
these latter materials were plentiful, there could be little 
inducement to use skin instead. 

Storm considers the statements in the sagas about skin- 
boats to be due to a simple mistake as to their construction, 
but the Norsemen had a good opportunity to examine them 
on several occasions and would not be likely to make mis- 
takes of that nature. It seems more probable that the state- 
ments about skin-boats crept into the sagas much later, 
when the saga-writers knew that the SkrEelings in Green- 
land used boats of this material. The saga-writers may then 
have taken for granted that all Skraelings used skin-boats, 
also those in Vinland, and may have inserted comments to 
that effect in the sagas, in order to make them more remark- 
able and interesting. On the whole, we seem to be justified 
in assuming that Thorvald's Skraslings were Indians, an 
assumption which, as we shall see, is strongly supported by 
the geographical analysis. 

4. The Skraelings met by Karslefni {Gpancl ER). Ac- 
cording to Gp^ the natives made their appearance first in 
the early part of summer, later in the early part of winter. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 189 

According to ER^ the Skr^lings appeared first in the early 
part of summer, soon after the arrival of the Norsemen at 
Hop, and next year they arrived in the early spring. The 
Skraelings traded with the Norsemen, bartering away their 
skins as do Indians and Eskimos alike, but, except for the 
statement in Gp that the Skrcelings appeared the second 
time early in winter, there is preponderating evidence that 
they arrived in the early summer or in the spring, which 
would seem to show that they were Indians. The descrip- 
tion given in ER of the Skraelings whom Karlsefni met at 
Hop fits the Indians at least as well as the Eskimos. The 
Skr^lings are described as of a swarthy complexion and 
with ugly, scraggly hair. They had large eyes and broad 
cheeks. Neither Indians nor Eskimos have large eyes, but 
the other characteristics may fit either of the two races. The 
fighting spirit of the Skraelings, their use of slings, their 
desire to obtain weapons and their attempt to steal them 
( Gp) , and their war-whoops are all traits common to Indi- 
ans and Eskimos, as shown above. 

The ball or balls that the Skraelings used as a weapon in 
the fight at Hop {ER) is identified by Mr. H. R. School- 
craft * with a giant club said to have been used in former 
days by the Ojibwa Indians. This club was formed by a 
large stone wrapped in a deer's hide and suspended from 
the end of a pole, an explanation which seems much more 
plausible than the opinion, advanced by some, that this ball 
was the inflated bladder used by the Eskimo in hunting 
large sea animals. Such a bladder could neither come down 
with a big crash, as did the ball of the Skraelings, nor could 
it possibly do any harm. 

* American Indians, I, 73. 



190 VOYAGES OF THE NORSEMEN 

In ER it is stated that the Skrselings were swinging 
staves in their boats in a direction sometimes with and some- 
times against the sun, and that the Norsemen beHeved this 
to be a token of peace or war. It has been suggested that this 
statement refers to the double-bladed paddles of the Eski- 
mos, and if so, the staves would apparently be swung with 
the sun when the boats were observed sailing from left to 
right, and conversely. It is clear, however, that if the staves 
were really oars, the Norsemen would be aware of this fact, 
and would not mistake the purpose of their being swung. 
It seems more likely that the staves were darts, which were 
swung by the natives in their excitement or according to 
some custom of theirs. In Such a case the natives might as 
well be Indians as Eskimos. Again, the only statement which 
points to the Skrselings being Eskimos in this case is that 
they used skin-boats {ER). We have already discussed the 
weight of this statement, but in the present case it may be 
added that according to Gp the Skrcclings came out of the 
woods, and boats are not mentioned at all. 

Taking all the evidence into account, we conclude that the 
Skraslings at Hop were Indians. This is again supported 
by the geographical analysis, according to which they were 
the Red Indians of Newfoundland, and is corroborated by 
the account of the Skrselings whom Karlsefni found on the 
same coast north of Hop. These natives were clad in coats 
of skin, and had with them boxes containing what the Norse- 
men described as ' ' animal marrow mixed with blood. ' ' This 
corresponds well with the sausages which the Red Indians 
used to prepare. 



^^^^ 




Coast ofBciffin Land on Hudson Strait. Shoxv'ing great range of tide 

Photograph ly courtesy of J. T.Rowland. Reproduced by permission of " Outing" 




Fiord Scenery in Northern Labrador 

The Holloway Studio 



CHAPTER X 

DESCRIPTION OF THE COASTS OF AxMERICA PROBABLY 
DISCOVERED BY THE NORSEMEN 

BEFORE proceeding to the geographical analysis of the 
sagas, we shall describe the main features of the coasts 
most likely to have been sighted and explored by the Norse- 
men. In this connection Baffin Land, Labrador, and New- 
foundland are undoubtedly the most important, since these 
countries are nearest to Greenland, but, as will be shown 
in the next chapter, also the coasts of Nova Scotia and of the 
continent farther south are of interest. The description com- 
prises in general all features that are of interest to the navi- 
gator and explorer, but particular attention is paid to such 
points as are referred to in the sagas. It is based essentially 
on modern publications, such as Sailing Db'ections,* hand- 
books, and other descriptive works, but since considerable 
changes have taken place during the last nine hundred years 
in animal and plant life, and perhaps also in the distri- 
bution of the native tribes, numerous abstracts are given 
from the accounts of early explorers. It may be proper to add 
here that no marked change appears to have taken place 
in climatic conditions of these regions since the visit of the 
Norsemen . 

Baffin Land 

Baffin Land is a large island lying to the west of Greenland, 
from which it is separated by Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. 
To the west it is separated from the Melville Peninsula by 

* Published by the United States Hydrographic Office and by tlie British 
Admiralty. 



192 THE VOYAGES OF 

Fox Channel, and to the south by Hudson Strait from Lab- 
rador. Thus, as pointed out by Dr. Boas, Baffin Land may 
be said to form geographically and ethnographically the 
connecting link between three regions, Greenland, the Hud- 
son Bay Territory, and Labrador, all inhabited by Eski- 
mos. Baffin Land stretches from Hudson Strait northward 
through twelve degrees of latitude, between the parallels of 
62° and 74° N. Frobisher supposed it to consist of a num- 
ber of separate islands. Its appearance is generally bleak, 
barren, and mountainous ; bare, black-looking rocks are al- 
most everywhere in evidence. In the report of Frobisher's 
voyages (1576—78) it is stated that in Frobisher Bay the 
mountains are covered with snow, in most parts, even all 
the summer long, the northern shores having less snow and 
more grass (moss) than the southern. 

The mountains form three principal ranges, all trending 
southeast and resulting in three large peninsulas, stretch- 
ing out towards and facing Davis Strait, and enclosing two 
deep bays, Cumberland Sound and Frobisher Bay. North- 
ward of Cumberland Sound the broad northeastern range 
forms a vast highland from five thousand to perhaps eight 
thousand feet in height, covered with a cap of ice similar to 
that of Greenland, and sending forth glaciers in all direc- 
tions. The middle range, between Cumberland Sound to the 
north and Frobisher Bay to the south, forms a compara- 
tively level plateau of smaller height ; only a single moun- 
tain reaches the region of perpetual snow. 

The summit of the southern range, lying between Hud- 
son Strait and Frobisher Bay, is covered by an extensive, 
smooth-topped cap of ice, the so-called Grinnell glacier, 
about one hundred miles long and about twenty miles broad. 



f 



y 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 193 

This peninsula Frobisher called Meta Incognita. Frobisher 
Bay, which Frobisher considered a strait, penetrates about 
one hundred and fifty miles from the entrance. 

On Resolution Island, which lies south of the entrance 
to this bay, a glacier-like formation exists on a small scale. 

That the country is strewn with boulders may be gath- 
ered from several remarks in Frobisher 's narrative. Thus 
it is stated that the most abundant substance of the moun- 
tains is ' ' stones, and those stones are so shaken with extraor- 
dinary means, that one is separated from another, which 
is discordant with all other quarries." 

Here, as on the coast of Labrador, refraction is very pro- 
nounced, and mirage is common and characteristic of the 
few fine days of summer. Often land is seen from far greater 
distances than in the ordinary state of the atmosphere. 

It is important to note that the range of spring tide on 
the coast facing the Hudson Strait is about forty feet. 

The fauna of Baffin Land appears to have been very rich 
formerly. Thus on Frobisher's voyages there were seen a 
great many deer (caribou), hares, wolves, white bears, and 
various sea fowl. 

. Atlantic Coast of Labrador* 

The peninsula of Labrador extends between the parallels of 
50° and 62°. It forms an elevated plateau, bordered on the 
Atlantic coast by a mountain range, which rises somewhat 
abruptly from the sea to heights of from five hundred to 
two thousand feet within a few miles of the coast, present- 

*The main sources of information in this chapter are: JVewfoundland and 
the Labrador Coast, Hydrographic Office, 1909 ; C. W. Townsend, Cafitain 
Cartwright and his Labrador Journal, 1911 ; W. T. Grenfell, Labrador, 
1909. 



194 THE VOYAGES OF 

ing a barren and iron-bound aspect. In the southern half the 
mountains are low and rarely exceed fifteen hundred feet 
in height, but in the northern half they rise to an average 
height of some two thousand feet, attaining their greatest 
elevation midway between Nachwak and Cape Chidley, 
where the so-called Four Peaks attain a height estimated 
at from five thousand to six thousand feet. Immense fields 
of snow cover the sides of these mountains even in the 
summer. 

The coast is indented with deep irregular bays and 
fringed with innumerable rocky islets, while long and narrow 
fiords penetrate inland, affording an abundance of excellent 
harbors. The hills fall steeply to the sea, often in precipitous 
cliffs, and terminate in rugged, rocky points. The only beach 
of any extent is found at Cape Porcupine, just south of Ham- 
ilton Inlet, in lat. 54°. Here large deposits of sand form a 
coastal plain many square miles in area, bordered by a white 
sandy beach on both sides of the cape. This fact is of im- 
portance in view of the repeated references in the sagas to 
extensive sandy beaches. Smaller beaches and sand deposits 
are found all along the coast, but only in sheltered places, 
especially at the bottom of bays and fiords at the mouth of 
rivers. 

A characteristic feature of Labrador, and, as mentioned 
above, also of Baffin Land, is the deposit of drifted boulders 
with which the surface of the country is thickly strewn, left 
on the bed rock by the ice of the glacial period. The presence 
of these boulders is especially marked on the higher lev- 
els ; in fact, near the coast below the two-hundred-and-fifty- 
foot level, they have been largely M^ashed away, or ground 
down by the sea during the process of uplift of the land, 




(^jast near Cape Mugjord^ Labrador. Lat. 58° 

Photograph hy J. T. Rowland 




Photograph by courtesy of J. t. Rowland Reprodiucd ii permission ut ''Out, 

Bishop's Mitre, just South of Cape Mugford, 2>000 feet high 
Here is the northern limit of trees on the Labrador coast 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 195 

which took place in post-glacial times. Many boulders are 
left stranded in the valleys of the emerging land on the so- 
called raised boulder beaches. These boulders remind us 
of the hellur of the sagas, that is, the rocks, or large (flat) 
stones, which suggested to the Norsemen the name ' ' Hellu- 
land." 

The climate is extremely severe, ranging from cold tem- 
perate in the southern part to arctic on the Hudson Strait. 
On the treeless portions of the coast and on the outer islands 
the flora and fauna present an almost purely circumpolar 
character, and the air is raw and cold, especially when the 
wind comes from the sea. In the summer on the coast the 
sea is often at freezing point, and the air is not much warmer 
even in the warmest summer months on the southern part 
of the coast. In the interior, and even at the bottom of the 
fiords, a marked diflerence is noticeable, for in summer the 
air is remarkably soft and warm there, in fact uncomfortably 
so at times. This difference between the coast climate and 
the climate a short distance inland is characteristic of Labra- 
dor, and is due to the cooling effect of the Labrador Current, 
which, not onlyduringthe winter, butalso through thespring 
and early summer months, carries on its surface a mass 
of floating ice of about one hundred thousand square miles 
in area. On the other hand, at the heads of inlets, where this 
cooling action is not so strongly felt, the heat of the sun as- 
serts itself, the latitude being relatively low. 

The Labrador Current sets southward through Davis 
Strait and follows along the east coasts of Labrador and 
Newfoundland. As explained in Chapter II, it carries with 
it the screwed and broken sea-ice, in Davis Strait called the 
West Pack, accompanied by icebergs. The first ice borne 



196 THE VOYAGES OF 

southward by this current is the so-called "northern slob," 
formed in the Arctic and east of Labrador during the fall 
and the early winter months. It blocks the harbors along the 
coast of Labrador, commencing at the northern part in Octo- 
ber. It consists of surface ice crushed up by the wind and 
sea, and varies in thickness from three to ten feet. The north- 
ern slob is observed moving southward as a narrow stream 
off the coast of Labrador, in lat. 55° ^ about the middle of 
December. It gradually broadens to a width of some twelve 
to fifteen miles in January, when the sheet ice begins to 
take the place of the slob. The sheet ice is more dense and 
solid than the slob. Icebergs floating in the sea ice may be 
encountered at any time, but are most numerous from June 
till August. During the late summer months, and sometimes 
as early as June, the Labrador coast is free from ice and open 
to navigation, but the ice conditions depend largely on the 
direction of the wind. The mail steamer makes its last visit 
in November. The larger bays freeze solid in the beginning 
of December, and the coast generally remains ice-bound till 
late in June. Every sheltered harbor in Labrador is frozen 
over in the winter. Fogs occur throughout the year, but 
are on the whole rare; they prevail with easterly winds, 
and are most frequent during June and July. The range 
of spring tides is from four to seven feet on the east coast, 
but at Cape Chidley and elsewhere in the Hudson Strait the 
range is from thirty-five to forty feet. The tidal streams at 
Cape Chidley are extremely strong. 

It follows from the peculiar climatic conditions that the 
coast is bleak, but the shores of bays and rivers, except of the 
most northern portion, are well wooded and in some cases 
densely so, the timber being tall and sound. The trees are 




ir-^ 



Davis Inlet. Lat. 5Gi'' 

Photograph by courtesy of J, T. Rowland. Reproduced by permission of " Outing ' 




Cape Harrigan off Davis Inlet 

By courtesy of IV. B. Cabot 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 197 

spruce, larch, fir, birch, and aspen. In many parts, how- 
ever, the forests have been largely destroyed by fires and by 
reckless cutting. The southern portion of Labrador up to 
lat. 53° was formerly covered with trees, except on rocky 
summits and on the outer islands. At present enormous 
fire-swept tracts are found in the forests. In lat. 55° more 
than half the country is treeless, due to the severity of 
the climate, and the northern limit of trees near the coast 
is in about lat. 58°. North of this latitude only dwarf wil- 
lows and birches grow, while mosses and lichens form the 
principal covering of the ground. 

On the coast the country is not fit for agriculture, vege- 
tables are raised with difficulty and rarely reach maturity ; 
but at the heads of deep inlets vegetables, flowers, and even 
cereals are grown. There is an abundance of wild cran- 
berries and currants. 

White bears were probably very numerous all along this 
coast at the time of the Norsemen's voyages. On Cabot's 
and Cartier's voyages white bears were seen even in eastern 
Newfoundland. In Cartwright's time (l770) they were still 
numerous even on the southern part of the Labrador coast, 
but at present they are chiefly found only on the northern 
part. Black bears are abundant in southern Labrador. Cari- 
bou, usually referred to as "deer," is the most important 
mammal. Foxes of various kinds, including white or Arc- 
tic foxes, beavers, otters, hares, and porcupines were com- 
mon in Labrador in former times, but are now relatively 
scarce. Multitudes of eider ducks and other fowl breed on 
the outer islands. The fisheries are very important, espe- 
ciallv those of seal and cod. Trout and cod are abundant 
from July to October ; the herring fishery begins in Sep- 



198 THE VOYAGES OF 

tember. In the winter there is fishing of rock cod in the 
bays and of trout in the lakes. Salmon were formerly abun- 
dant. According to Dr. W.T.Grenfell,* navigation along 
this coast during summer is far from difficult or dangerous, 
as one might expect from the presence of ice and from the 
rocky nature of the coast. There are so many harbors that 
it is not necessary to spend a single night at sea the whole 
way from the Strait of Belle Isle to Cape Chidley. Every- 
where, too, the coast is bold. The days are long in summer, 
and at night the clear atmosphere, the splendid northern 
lights, and the absence of strong tidal currents (except in 
the extreme north) make navigation still easier. Grenfell 
has cruised the coast, both in sailing-boat and steamer, year 
after year, and has never yet come near losing a life. The 
fishermen who visit this coast can give similar evidence. 
Thousands of men, women, and children have for many 
years been cruising the outside coast in summer ; they come 
down from Newfoundland in sailing-craft of every conceiv- 
able kind, many in sailing-vessels under twenty tons, and 
some in open skiffs ; yet it is very rare to hear of any hav- 
ing been lost from stress of weather. The months of navi- 
gation are from July to October ; in June the arctic ice still 
besets the coast, and in November the last of the fishing- 
vessels go south. 

The statements by Dr. Grenfell which have here been 
given in abstract are of importance, because they show 
clearly what conditions the Norsemen would meet on this 
coast, which appears to be far less dangerous to navigate 
than that of Greenland. We may add that in the summer of 
1911 Mr. J. T. Rowland sailed all along the Labrador east 

* W. T. Grenfell and others, Labrador, 1909, pp. 41, 42. 




Ragged Islands. Lat. 55°., near Cape Harrison 

'By courtesy of JV. B. Cabot 




Cape Harrison 

By courtesy of Hon, Wm, Cary Sanger 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 199 

coast to Baffin Land and into the Hudson Strait in a frail 
thirty-five-foot motor boat.* 

The most important fiord on the Labrador coast is Ham- 
ikon Inlet, which is about one hundred and twenty miles 
deep. About thirty -five miles from its entrance, at which 
numerous islands are found, the inlet is contracted to the 
so-called Narrows, which at one point is only some seven 
hundred yards wide, and through which the tidal streams 
may attain a speed of from six to seven knots an hour. 
Inside the Narrows the fiord broadens out to a width of 
eighteen miles, and at its head flows the Hamilton River, 
the largest river on the Labrador coast. The inlet and the 
river valley form in the east a natural boundary between 
southern Labrador and northern Labrador, the so-called 
Ungava District. 

The sandy Porcupine Strand, which extends for from 
forty to fifty miles between Hamilton Inlet and Sandwich 
Bay, has already been mentioned. It OM^esits sandy nature 
to its sheltered position behind headlands and outlying 
islands. On the sandy plain inside this beach is an exten- 
sive growth of scrub timber. 

Sandwich Bay, just south of Cape Porcupine, extends 
southwestward to two narrow channels ten miles from its 
entrance. Thence it expands to a spacious basin, which ex- 
tends fifteen miles farther southward. Its shores are sandy, 
especially at the mouth of rivers, of which several empty 
into the bay. Numerous islands obstruct the entrance, and 
strong tides run in the channels. The rivers are famous for 
salmon. 

* J. T. Rowland, To Baffin Land in a Motor Boat, Outing, January, Febru- 
ary, March, 1912. 



200 THE VOYAGES OF 

Cartwright Harbor, where the Hudson Bay Company 
has an estabHshment, lies on the channel between Earl 
Island and the mainland. 

At the head of Sandwich Bay is Hinchinbrook Bay, 
which is entered through a narrow channel. Paradise River, 
which flows into this bay, may be ascended by a steam 
launch nearly to the lake at its head, a distance of some five 
miles. This lake abounds in salmon, trout, and pike. 

Mealy Mountains, a range attaining the height of 1482 
feet, extend from Sandwich Bay to Hamilton Inlet. They 
are never free from snow and are visible from the outer 
islands. 

St. Lewis Inlet, immediately north of the Strait of Belle 
Isle, is in many respects typical of this part of the coast. 
It is one mile wide at the entrance, but becomes wider 
within. Several islands lie at the entrance. Nine miles from 
the entrance there is good anchorage at Black Fly Island. 
Above this point navigation is intricate, but small vessels 
may ascend some five miles farther, where a sand flat and 
boulders, nearly dry at low water, extend across the head 
of the inlet and the mouth of St. Lewis River. The trees 
increase in number and size from the entrance to the head 
of the inlet, owing to the change of climate. Black Fly Is- 
land and the shores on either side are thickly wooded with 
spruce and birch, supplying timber suitable for building 
schooners and boats and for fishing-stages. The scenery is 
beautiful, the granite hills rising occasionally, on either side 
of the inlet, from seven to eight hundred feet above the sea. 

In the annual reports of the Moravian Brethren from the 
early part of last century, Mr. W. G. Gosling* has found 

* Labrador, New York, 1911, pp. 11-18. 




Near Ass'irvahan River. A short distance inland. Lat. 5&\ Markland (^^^ 



By courtesy of fV. B. Cabot 





Near Hamilton Inlet. Lat. 54}^ 

B] courtesy of the Hon. (fm. Cary Sanger 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 201 

references to houses discovered on the islands bordering 
the east coast, especially at Nain,in lat. 55° to 56°, and on 




///. Sandwich Bay on the Labrador Coast^just South of 
Hamilton Inlet. Straumjiord (I*) 



202 THE VOYAGES OF 

Amitok Island, in lat. 59°30'. These houses were buih of 
stones, which mode of construction is not used by the Lab- 
rador Eskimos. Some of the ruins are said "to consist of 
remains of walls, and graves, with a low stone enclosure 
round the tomb, covered with a slab of the same material." 
Bishop Martin, the present head of the Moravian missions in 
Labrador, states that he has heard about these ruins several 
times, but that he has never yet seen one of them. He once 
showed some pictures of the old Norse Greenland houses 
to the Eskimos, and they at once told him that some ruins 
on the islands were very much like those given in the pic- 
tures. It is worth noting that the present Eskimos on Labra- 
dor show no respect for the dead and would not construct 
such burial-places ; they also disclaim all responsibility for 
the houses. 

Some curious erections of obvious antiquity, built of flat 
slabs of stone on the summit of lofty cliflfs, have recently 
been discovered by Dr. Grenfell, who thought them look- 
out places. We have already mentioned that similar struc- 
tures are found on the mountains in Greenland overlooking 
the sea. 

An explanation of at least some of the above mentioned 
structures may possibly be found in the report of William 
Baffin, of the English expedition to Greenland in 1612. 
Baffin says that the Greenland Eskimos bury their dead on 
the outlying islands. Upon the tops of the hills they gather a 
number of stones together and make thereof a hollow cave 
of the length and breadth of the dead body. The grave is 
covered with broad stones. Near by another grave is made, 
where the weapons and other implements of the deceased are 
deposited. 




Labrador Coast, not far North of the Strait of Belle Isle 

By courtesy of Hon. U-'m. Gary Sanger 




Strait of Belle Isle 

Bv courtesy of IV. B. Cabot 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 203 

The Labrador Coast of the Strait of Belle Isle 

The Strait of Belle Isle is about seventy-three miles long, 
and from thirteen to fourteen miles wide on each side of 
Belle Isle, but the narrowest part of the strait is at Amour 
Point, where it is only about nine miles wide. The Labra- 
dor coast is steep, rising to flat- topped ridges and summits 
from one thousand to thirteen hundred feet high. Several 
of the bays and inlets are large, with bold shores and very 
deep water. 

Dense fogs prevail in the strait during summer, and 
sometimes last for several days at a time. In September 
strong northerly or northwesterly winds with clear weather 
are more likely to occur. 

The ordinary rates of the streams are from one to two 
knots an hour, but in certain localities, as off Amour and 
Forteau Points, the streams are stronger and may attain a 
rate of from four to five knots close to the shore. Ice appears 
about the middle of December. At the beginning of the year 
heavier ice drifts into the strait from the north along the 
Labrador coast. Icebergs are most numerous from April to 
September. Even after May heavy arctic ice may drift into 
the strait. The strait is open to navigation from about the 
middle of June to the end of November. 

The coast is barren and there is hardly any grass on this 
part of the country, but the moss eaten by the caribou is 
plentiful, and likewise the cranberry, called here the "part- 
ridge berry, ' ' the curlew-berry {empetnim nigiiim) , and sim- 
ilar shrubby plants, which form a dense uniform carpet of 
varied but dull green hues. Several of the bays on this coast, 
such as Anse a Loup, Forteau Bay, and Blanc Sablon have 



204 THE VOYAGES OF 

sandy beaches at the outlet of rivers or brooks, emptying 
into them. The streams here, as elsewhere in Labrador, con- 
sist largely of chains of ponds or lakes connected by rapids 
or waterfalls. Often the mouths of the streams are shallow 
and only boats and vessels of small draught can enter. 

Jacques Cartier, who visited this coast in 1534, gives 
the following description of it:* "If the land was as good 
as the harbors it would be very well ; but it ought not to be 
called the New Land, but rather (the land of) frightful and 
rough stones and rocks, for on the whole of that northern 
coast I have not seen one cartload of earth, although I have 
landed in several places. Except at Blanc Sablon, there is 
nothing but moss and small stunted woods. In fact, I rather 
think that this is the land which God gave to Cain." 

South Coast of Labrador 

Sailing from the Strait of Belle . Isle westward to Cape 
Whittle, some hundred and thirty-six miles, we find a coast 
broken into bays and inlets, and fringed with numerous 
islands, rocks, and ledges. The mainland as well as the 
islands is here lower than in the strait. With its severe and 
gloomy climate this is one of the most barren and desolate 
coasts in the world. As viewed from the sea, it presents a 
wild and dreary aspect. 

The ice does not usually leave the coast before June, and 
begins to form again in sheltered places in September. Even 
at midsummer snow may continue to occupy the ravines 
and other shaded places. In the sheltered bays, however, 
the temperature is much higher, and at some fifteen miles 

* H. Michelant and A. Ramee, Relation Originale dii Voyage de Jacques Car- 
tier au Canada en 1534, Paris, 1867, ]). 11. 




I 

i 



^ 



^ 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 205 

inland the country is thickly wooded in the valleys. There 
are many animals which are hunted for their skins by the 
inhabitants. Seals, salmon, and codfish are plentiful. 

Eskimo Bay with Eskimo River resembles in general 
character the bays in the strait already described. Boats have 
ascended the river for five miles, and passed through two 
lakes, separated by shallow and narrow channels. The river 
abounds in salmon. 

Going westward from Cape Whittle to Natashkw^an 
River, about sixty-two miles, the coast rises into low but 
steep hills and ridges with rounded summits, having mo- 
rasses and stagnant pools between them. The coast pre- 
sents the same features as east of Cape Whittle; only the 
last thirteen miles before Natashkwan Point the coast is 
sand. At the mouth of Natashkwan River are sandy points, 
and a low sandy island with narrow shallow channels on 
either side. Codfish are plentiful in June, and the river 
abounds in salmon. The coast west of Natashkwan River 
is characterized by long reaches of sandy shores, a coastal 
plain, and a low barrier mountain range. Numerous large 
rivers pour out at frequent intervals. 

Newfoundland 

We shall here describe in particular the northeast coast, 
which faces the Atlantic, and the west coast, which faces 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The northeast coast extends from 
Cape Bauld, in lat. 57°40', to Cape Race, in lat. 46°35 ' ; it 
is indented with deep bays, which contain numerous smaller 
bays, harbors, and coves, and are studded with islands. In 
all the bays there is deep water to the very shores ; they 
nearly all afford shelter to vessels during summer, and many 



206 THE VOYAGES OF 

provide fine harbors. The general character of the coast is 
wild and rugged, and from the sea it presents a forbidding 
aspect. The shores are steep, rocky, and generally barren 
or covered only with small trees, but, as in Labrador, the 
character of the land improves at the head of the deep bays 
and up along the river valleys. 

The island is generally hilly, but the hills rarely exceed an 
altitude of one thousand feet ; the ranges trend northeast and 
southwest. Scattered boulders form a characteristic feature 
of the hills and headlands. A gradual uprising of the whole 
island is very noticeable, even from generation to generation. 
Thus, in many places the fishermen cannot now moor their 
boats in the same water where their fathers could. 

The climate of the northeast coast is governed largely by 
the Labrador Current, but is tempered by the Gulf Stream, 
which makes the climate more even than on the adjacent 
continent. In winter the temperature seldom falls below zero, 
and in summer it rarely rises above 80° F. The arrival of 
spring is uncertain and tardy, and its duration is very short; 
summer sets in suddenly and vegetation advances rapidly. 
Summer and autumn are always fine, while winter, which 
sets in about the beginning of December, lasts until the 
middle of April, with snow lying almost continuously dur- 
ing that period. The climate, however, shows great varia- 
tions from year to year. Westerly winds prevail throughout 
the year. Easterly winds generally bring fog, which is most 
common during June and July. 

From December, and usually until May, the harbors on 
the northeast coast are blocked by field-ice and icebergs. In 
February the breadth of the slob off Cape Spear reaches from 
eighty to one hundred and thirty miles, on the average. East- 



Scenery on the East Side of White Bay^ Nexvfoundland^ August^ 1912 

By courtesy of IV. B. Cabot 




Coast Scenery at rrinity Bay., NeiifoundUnid 

the Hollo-way Studio 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 207 

erly winds will drive the ice against the coast and fill all the 
bays so that no water can be seen. Between the end of March 
and the middle of April, during ordinary years, the ice 
swings off to the eastward. After the month of May heavy 
arctic ice, accompanied by icebergs, drifts along the coast, 
and forms a constant obstruction, generally until July, from 
Indian Tickle on the coast of Labrador to the Fogo Islands 
on the east coast of Newfoundland. In the ocean east and 
southeast of Newfoundland icebergs and extensive fields 
of solid compact ice are liable to be met with, especially 
from April to August. The tidal ranges on the coast of New- 
foundland are moderate : only from four to seven feet. 

The west coast extends from Cape Bauld to Cape Ray, 
in lat. 47°35' ; together with the northeast coast, as far as 
Cape St. John, it forms w^hat is generally referred to as the 
"French Shore." The west coast, particularly its northern 
part, is less indented than the east coast. A few miles inland, 
the Long Range Mountains, running all along the coast 
as far north as St. John's Bay, rise at many points to more 
than two thousand feet and give a stern and imposing aspect 
to the coast. In fact, the highest mountains in Newfound- 
land are found in this part of the island. The climate is 
much milder than on the northeast coast, and the general 
appearance of the coast is more inviting. Ice forms in the 
gulf early in December, and usually the west coast of New- 
foundland is clear of ice at the middle of May, but here, 
as on the east coast, great differences in ice conditions may 
exist in different years. 

Passing along the south coast of Newfoundland, we come 
to the southeastern point of the Avalon Peninsula, Cape 
Race, which, at least before the days of steam navigation. 



208 THE VOYAGES OF 

was the most important headland on the east coast of North 
Arnerica, and to this point several great sailing routes con- 
verged. Its distance from Cape Clear in Ireland is only about 
seventeen hundred miles. 

On the northeast coast trees are generally of a stunted 
growth, and it is only at the heads of bays and in sheltered 
places that they attain sufficient size to make spars even for 
small vessels, while a mast for a large schooner can be ob- 
tained only at a long distance from the sea. The timber is, 
however, hard and durable. In former days the most exten- 
sive forests abounded in the northern parts of the island, 
but fires have reduced their extent and have destroyed the 
largest trees, which have been succeeded by trees of a dif- 
ferent and smaller species. On the west coast, on the other 
hand, excellent timber of larger dimensions is still obtain- 
able. Fir, spruce, pine, and birch are most abundant, but 
there are also many other kinds of trees. Flowering plants 
and ferns grow in great variety, and wild grasses and clover 
are abundant. There is good fodder for the cattle. The 
berry-bearing trailing plants and shrubs form one of the 
features of this island, as in Labrador ; they clothe every 
swamp and every open rocky tract, the so-called barrens. 
Among the berries should be mentioned black crowberries 
{empetnim mgimii)^ cranberries, whortleberries, cowberries, 
and partridge berries. 

A great many fur-bearing animals are indigenous in 
Newfoundland, such as the black bear, deer, fox, Arctic 
hare, beaver, and seal. Whether white bears {i.e.^ polar 
bears) inhabited Newfoundland at the time of the Norse- 
men's voyages is uncertain, although the accounts of Cabot 
(1497) and of Cartier (1534) seem to show that these later 




Humber River ^ West Coast of Nexvfoimdland 

By courtesy of Dr. Charles XV. Townsend 




Humber River ^ West Coast of Neivfoundland 

By courtesy of Dr. Charles IV. 'Tovjnsend 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 209 

explorers saw polar bears on the island. Speaking of one 
of the Funk Islands, Cartier says : "Although this island is 
fourteen miles from the mainland, the bears swim out there 
in order to eat the birds, and we saw one bear there, as big 
as a cow, and white as a swan ... its flesh was as good to 
eat as that of a young steer." It is, however, possible that 
these bears may have come down accidentally with the arctic 
ice. Walrus once abounded in the Strait of Belle Isle and 
other parts of the coast, but as early as 1583, when Cap- 
tain Hayes visited the island,* they had been practically ex- 
terminated in those regions. The seal fishery is very impor- 
tant, and is carried on in March and April, when the seal 
come down on the arctic ice. Captain Hayes found abun- 
dance of trout, salmon, cod, herring, turbot, and whales. 
Salmon have now been almost exterminated. Codfish ap- 
pear off the coast in April, and the fishing season lasts until 
October, when these fish take their departure, but they re- 
appear with the greatest regularity every April. On the west 
coast spring herring appear in May and autumn herring in 
October. 

A great variety of birds occur on the island . We may here 
mention the eider duck and the baccalao bird, which are 
found in myriads on many of the outlying islands. Thus on 
Funk Islands (Cartier' s Isles des Oyseaux) are numberless 
birds and eggs, and the islands are covered many feet deep 
with sea-birds' dung. The great auk, now extinct, was seen 
here by Cartier in great multitudes, and must have been 
very numerous at the time of the Norsemen's voyages. 

When the island Avas explored in the sixteenth century 
it was inhabited by the Beothuks, or Red Indians. 

* Bonnycastle, N'ewfoundland in 1842. 



210 



THE VOYAGES OF 



We shall here describe in particular the northwestern 
peninsula, Le Petit Nord, which is of special interest in con- 
nection with the voyages of the Norsemen. The northern- 
most point, Cape Bauld, is situated on the small Kirpon 
Island, separated from the peninsula by a narrow channel ; it 
is bold and barren, and the tidal streams around it are strong 




ifS'fS' 



IV. Sop's Arm on White Bay^ Ntrwfoundland. Karlsefni' s Hop ( ?* ) 

and eddying. The total length of the peninsula to the bot- 
tom of White Bay is about one hundred and forty miles, 
and it averages from thirty to thirty-five miles in width. At 
its southern base are some of the highest mountains on the 
island. 

Going southward from Cape Bauld along the east coast 
of the peninsula, we first find the large Hare Bay, further 




Robinson'' s Head^ St. Georg-e Bay.^ West Coast of Newfoundland 

By courtesy of George D. Bussey 




.-S^=5:«:.^.,^\ ^ 1^ 




J/outh of Middle Barachois Brook., St. George Bay 



By courtesy of George D. Bus. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 211 

south Canada Bay, Orange Bay, and finally Sop's Arm; but 
numerous smaller inlets and bays indent the coast. The 
coast is generally steep and cliify ; the shores of White Bay 
as well as the heads of the various inlets are thickly wooded. 
Canada Bay is entered through a passage called the Nar- 
rows, beyond which it widens into a capacious basin. Sop's 
Arm is an inlet near the head of White Bay. It is some five 
miles deep, and at its mouth lie Sop's Island and George 
Island, leaving narrow channels of entrance to a rather wide 
expanse of water inside. The shores are densely wooded. A 
large stream, Main Brook, flows into the inlet at its north- 
western corner, where a delta-like flat is formed with nu- 
merous marshy islets. The outer islets are fronted by gravel 
fiats and large boulders. 

Going westward from CapeBauld round the northern end 
of the peninsula and then south down along the west coast, 
we find first the large indentation, Pistolet Bay, open to the 
north. Then follows a stretch of low, straight, monotonous 
coast, extending from Cape Norman some thirty- seven miles 
in a southwesterly direction, backed by a wooded ridge 
about one hundred feet high. Farther south are a great num- 
ber of smaller inlets, among which Ingornachoix Bay and 
Bonne Bay are the most important. Finally, we come to the 
larger bays, Bay of Islands, Port au Port, and St. George 
Bay. Speaking broadly, the coast may be described as cliffy, 
broken here and there by gullies, and densely wooded at the 
top. Behind the cliffs are seen the wooded hills of Long 
Range Mountains. It seems likely that the whole west coast 
south of the strait was densely wooded in former times. Gen- 
erally the coast is fronted by rough, stony beaches, but at 
inlets, where rivers flow out, we often find sandbanks, flats, 



212 THE VOYAGES OF 

and beaches. A characteristic feature of this coast is the large 
ponds or inlets of extensive area, which, through a short 
river channel or a narrow entrance, connect with the sea. 
Portland Creek, Parson's Pond, and St. Paul's Inlet belong 
in this category. 

The scenery in the bays is often grand and picturesque, 
and the coast south of the Strait of Belle Isle includes the 
richest valleys and the best soil of Newfoundland. The coast 
is nearly free from fogs, and its climate is mild. It borders 
on the most prolific fishing-grounds, and is called the Gar- 
den of Newfoundland. 

Bonne Bay is from ten to twelve miles deep, and is divided 
into two arms. East Arm and South Arm. The head of 
East Arm is about thirty-five miles from Sop's Arm on the 
other side of the peninsula, and the high mountain range 
which is found between them is visible from both sides. The 
summit of the range, Gros Morne, 2540 feet high, is dis- 
tinguishable from seaward. 

The whole Mest coast up to Ingornachoix Bay is capa- 
ble of supplying good timber for shipbuilding ; the timber 
is here larger and more varied than in any other part of the 
island. The Humber River, which flows into the Bay of Is- 
lands, is the largest river in Newfoundland. At the bottom 
of St. George Bay are found extensive sandy flats and banks 
of sand and mud. The rivers abound in salmon and trout. 
The soil at St. George Bay is the best in the island. 

Space does not permit a description or even a mention 
of the innumerable bays, inlets, and harbors, or the penin- 
sulas, headlands, and capes on the northeastern coast of 
Newfoundland, which is that most likely to have been the 
first landfall of the Norsemen when driven southwestward 




B) favor of Prof. H. K. Burrison 



Mouth of Indian Brook^ HalPs Bay^ Notre Dame Baif^ Northeast 
Coast of Newfoundland 




Coast Outside of St. Johns., East Coast of Newfoundland 

The Hollo-way Studio 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 213 

on their voyages to Greenland. Notre Dame Bay presents an 
open front of some fifty miles between Cape St. John and 
Fogo Island. Many of the islands in the bay are covered 
with woods to the water's edge, and one of the fiords has 
for the same reason obtained the name Green Bay. 

The eastern front of the island presents a bare and hard 
appearance. On the dark mountain sides only a trace of ver- 
dure is seen from the sea ; the rugged islands, fronting the 
coast, are either bare or covered with white birds and their 
dung. St. John's Harbor, on the extreme eastern coast, has 
a narrow entrance like a mountain pass, and the harbor itself 
resembles a mountain lake. 

Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island 

Nova Scotia is a detached peninsula, which stretches out in 
an east-northeasterly direction from the American continent, 
with which it is connected by a relatively narrow isthmus. 
The southeast coast, from Cape Sable to Cape Canso, be- 
tween lat. 43 ° and 45 ° , faces the Atlantic, and has a length 
of about two hundred and forty miles. It is scooped out into 
innumerable bays and coves, and is fringed with thousands 
of rocky islets. The coast is rocky, and, as seen from the 
sea, gives an impression of barrenness and desolation. In 
some parts there are naked cliifs, red or white ; in other parts 
the capes and outer islands are bound with black and slaty 
rocks, generally stretching out in spits towards the east. 
The headlands have beaches of rolled stones and shingles, 
and are more or less wooded. In the bays between the 
headlands are found numerous sand beaches. The average 
breadth of the peninsula is about sixty miles ; it is traversed 
by ranges of hills, running, generally, in the direction of 



214 THE VOYAGES OF 

the peninsula, from southwest to northeast. The hills are, 
on the whole, low, rarely exceeding from five to six hundred 
feet, but some of the elevations reach a height of eleven 
hundred feet. Inland there are extensive fertile, alluvial 
tracts, producing rich crops; and large forests supply excel- 
lent timber. 

At Cape La Have the land is, or has been, thickly wooded. 
Where the hills are bare of trees, they are covered with 
blueberry and cranberry bushes. 

Cape Sable is the southwestern extremity of Nova Scotia; 
it is at the southern end of Cape Sable Island, which is 
thickly wooded and very flat. The small island on which 
the cape is situated is covered with low sand dunes. The 
tides on the Atlantic coast are weak ; only round Cape Sable 
the tidal range is greater and the streams are stronger. 

The climate of Nova Scotia is intermediate between that 
of Lower Canada and that of the countries in the same lati- 
tude on the Atlantic coast of Europe, the continental char- 
acter of the climate being alleviated by the proximity of 
the ocean and the Gulf Stream. The climate is extremely 
variable, and sudden changes of temperature are common. 
Spring is short, and the transition to summer rather sud- 
den. Summer is very warm, with frequent dense fogs. Fall 
is pleasant and long ; it often ends in a period of ' ' Indian 
summer." Winter seldom sets in till the close of December, 
and lasts till the end of March, generally with six or eight 
weeks' sleighing. The real spring approaches tardily, and 
May ends before the fields become green.* In some dis- 
tricts good grapes are raised in the open air. Nova Scotia 
is covered to a great extent by dense forests. Ash, beech, 

*Hugh 'MvLVY2iY , British jimerica. New York, 1855. 




Oakland Shore^ East Coast of Nova Scotia 

B) fermission of the Cnnadian Northern Railway Company 





By fermission of the Canadian Northern Railway Company 



Lockeport Beach^ East Coast of Nova Scotia. About thirty miles 
northeast of Cape Sable 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 215 

various birches (including the canoe birch), maple, oak, 
pine, and spruce are the most common trees indigenous in 
the country. Wild animals are abundant, among which are 
moose, caribou, and red deer. Fishing is good. 

The Indians found by the Europeans in Nova Scotia in 
the sixteenth century were of the Micmac tribe described in 
the last chapter. 

The largest and safest harbor on this coast is at Halifax. 
It is about three-quarters of a mile broad, but at the Narrows 
it contracts to less than one-quarter of a mile, and then ex- 
pands into Bedford Basin, which has an area of ten square 
miles and is completely landlocked. Halifax harbor is never 
closed by ice. Several other inlets, such as St. Margaret Bay, 
Jeddore Harbor, Whitehaven, and others, possess the same 
feature of a narrow entrance leading to an extensive basin 
inside. At the mouth of the great rivers, such as Musquid- 
oboit, sandy bars, flats, and beaches are formed. At the en- 
trance to Musquidoboit Inlet is a sandy beach two to three 
miles long enclosing an expanse of water filled with islands. 

Northeast of Nova Scotia, separated from it by the nar- 
row Gut of Canso, is Cape Breton Island. The shores of this 
island are rugged, and are indented by numerous bays 
and inlets, of which the Bras d'Or practically penetrates the 
whole island from northeast to southwest. The southeastern 
coast as far as Gabarus Bay is low, and the shore is broken 
into numerous lakes and ponds, protected from the sea by 
beaches of gravel and small rocky islands and ledges. Near 
Cape Breton the land is somewhat higher, the hummocks 
in the background rising to the height of from two to three 
hundred feet. Cape Breton is low, rocky, and covered with 
grassy moors. 



216 THE VOYAGES OF 

The east coast of the island from St. Anne Bay to the 
northernmost point, Cape North, is bold and mountain- 
ous. The land is here much higher than on the southeastern 
coast, and the mountains attain a height of nearly fourteen 
hundred feet. Going round Cape North and down along the 
west coast of the island, facing the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
we find no harbor or safe anchorage for ships north of Cape 
Linzee. The general character of the coast is high and bold ; 
the cliifs are precipitous, in many cases perpendicular, and 
boats can land only in fine weather at the mouth of ravines or 
small streams. Port Hood is the only safe anchorage on the 
west coast to the north of the Gut of Canso. In a recent de- 
scription* this coast has been described as "an unexplored 
and trackless land of forests and mountains." The whole 
island, in fact, is covered with woods, except in places where 
the rocks come to the surface, or where small patches are 
cleared for cultivation. 

Crossing the Gut of Canso, we come to the north coast 
of Nova Scotia facing the Northumberland Strait. Thefiorth- 
eastern point of this coast is Cape George, and from here to 
Merigomish Harbor the coast is bold and clear. The land 
rises some miles within the coast to a ridge running parallel 
with the coast and attaining in High Hill a height of one 
thousand feet above the sea. There is no harbor on this part 
of the coast, but from here on, the coast becomes indented 
with bays and harbors. 

The climate of Cape Breton Island is harsher than in 
Nova Scotia ; spring is later and summer is retarded by the 
cold wind from the neighboring sea, which is usually cov- 
ered with drift ice frequently forced against the coast in large 

* Osgood, The Maritime Provinces. (See also Storm.) 




By permission of the Canadian Northern Railway Company 

Cheboque River near Yarmouth on the Coast of Nova Scotia 
Facing the entrance to the Bay of Fundy 




Surf at Great Head^ Mount Desert Island, Maine 

The Detroit Publishing Company 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 217 

masses by northeast winds. Jacques Cartier, on his first voy- 
age in 1534, visited Prince Edward Island and Chaleur Bay 
in New Brunswick on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Speak- 
ing of Prince Edward Island, he says : * "The lands where 
there are no woods are very beautiful, and all so full of peas, 
white and red gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, and 
wild grain like rye, that it looks as if it had been sown and 
cultivated. ' ' Chaleur Bay is described as follows : ' ' The heat 
is more temperate than in Spain, and the land is as beauti- 
ful as can be seen anywhere and as level as a pond. And 
there is not here the smallest spot, sandy and bare of woods, 
but that it is full of wild grain which has an ear like rye 
and a seed like oats, and peas that^rmv^as thick as if they 
were sown and cultivated, and white and red gooseber- 
ries, strawberries, raspberries, red roses, and other herbs 
of good and fine odor. There are likewise many beautiful 
prairies and good grass, and ponds with an abundance of 
salmon." 

The Entrance to the Bay of Fundy 

The Bay of Fundy separates the province of New Bruns- 
wick from the southwestern part of Nova Scotia. It extends 
about a hundred miles in a northeasterly direction with an 
average breadth of thirty miles. On the western side of the 
entrance to the bay are Grand Manan and several smaller 
islands as well as numerous "dangers." Inside Grand 
Manan is Passamaquoddy Bay. On the southwestern coast 
of Nova Scotia we find Yarmouth Sound and St. Mary's 
Bay. The Bay of Fundy is deep, but navigation is ren- 

* Michelant and Ramge, Relation Originale du Voyage de Jacques Cartier, 
Paris, 1867, pp. 24,25. 



218 THE VOYAGES OF 

dered difficult by numerous off-lying dangers fringing the 
approaches, by rapid tides, and by frequent fogs. 

Grand Manan is about thirteen miles long and has an ex-' 
treme breadth of six miles. The channel between this island 
and the mainland is free from dangers, but the tides are 
strong and attain at some points a speed of five miles an hour. 
From the summit the land slopes gradually to the eastward, 
but on the west side the shore terminates in steep cliffs, some 
of which are nearly four hundred feet high. The soil is gen- 
erally good, and the island is thickly wooded, producing fir, 
beech, birch, and maple in good sizes. The eastern coasts 
abound with fish ; and there was probably good hunting here 
as well as on the adjoining mainland in former days. Birds 
also were probably numerous before the arrival of the white 
man. The hills of the mainland are visible from the coast, 
but they are of very moderate height. 

Passamaquoddy Bay is a large inlet, about ten miles deep. 
On the western side of the bay is St. Croix River. The bay 
is never closed by ice and affords excellent shelter. Its waters 
abound in fish, comprising herring, cod, and mackerel. 

Coast of Maine 

The Maine coast is broken by numerous fiords and bays, 
and is fringed with off-lying islands, islets, and rocks. It 
abounds in good harbors, but many winters they are closed 
by ice. South of Cape Elizabeth there are few harbors ; the 
bays are wider, with long strips of sandy beach between 
rocky points. 

Fogs are very frequent in summer and sometimes of long 
duration. At the northern part of the coast the tidal streams 
are very strong, and the range of tide great. This coast is 



1^, 



^ 

■^ 






^ 




THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 219 

generally of moderate height and only Mount Desert Island 
has a truly mountainous character, but on the whole it pre- 
sents a dark, rugged, and rather forbidding aspect to the 
sea. The whole country is, or was formerly, densely wooded. 
According to Lescarbot,* the French found wild grapes in 
great abundance at the Saco River in 1606, and later grapes 
were found on the shores of the St. John River in New 
Brunswick. 

Coasts of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and 
Rhode Island 

The coast line of these states is extended and varied ; it in- 
cludes the peninsula of Cape Cod, terminating in Race Point 
on the north and Monomoy Point on the south, whence it 
trends westward. 

Southward of the peninsula of Cape Cod are the two large 
and low islands Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, sur- 
rounded by extensive shoals. 

There are many excellent harbors and anchorages along 
this coast, in particular in the principal bays: Ipswich 
Bay, Boston Bay, Cape Cod Bay, Nantucket and Vineyard 
Sounds, Buzzard's and Narragansett Bays. The coast 
northward of Cape Ann is generally low and sandy, but 
between Cape Ann and Boston Bay, including this latter, 
it is bold and rocky. South of Boston the coast is again 
in most parts sandy, and a fine beach, three miles long, is 
found at Nantasket. Plymouth Harbor is enclosed between 
the mainland and a long sandy beach, forming a sort of la- 
goon, which is dry at low water except for a narrow channel. 

The shores of the entire peninsula ordinarily included 

* Histoire de la J^Touvelle France, Paris, 1866, Book II, 532. 



220 VOYAGES OF THE NORSEMEN 

under the name of Cape Cod, as well as the outlying is- 
lands, are low and sandy, presenting extensive white sand 
beaches to the sea. On the east coast of the cape are found 
lagoon-like ponds, protected from the ocean by long narrow^ 
beaches with sand dunes. Narrow entrances with shallow 
water lead into these ponds, as at Nauset Harbor and Long 
Pond. The cape is largely wooded and Avas probably for- 
merly completely covered by primeval forests. The south 
coast of Rhode Island presents largely the same features as 
the coasts of Cape Cod. 

The winter is shorter than in Maine, but may be very 
cold along the coasts of these states, while the summer may 
be at times oppressively warm . 

The Atlantic Coasts of New York and New Jersey 

The state of New York borders the Atlantic along the south 
coast of Long Island, which in its general character resem- 
bles the coast of New Jersey so much that they may be de- 
scribed together. The shore consists of low sand hillocks, 
backed by dark woods. Behind the white sandy beaches are 
enclosed lagoons or ponds with narrow and shallow outlets 
to the sea. Farther inland may be seen some low hills, but 
otherwise there are no striking natural features recognizable 
from seaward. The beaches are generally more than a mile 
in width. The coast-line is broken by New York Bay, which 
is about six miles wide at the entrance. The winter along 
this coast is severe and the summer warm, with occasional 
periods of intense heat. Ice may sometimes cause obstruc- 
tion in the sounds and harbors. 



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CHAPTER XI 

GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE VINLAND VOYAGES 

WE shall now review those statements of the sagas 
which have geographical bearing and compare them 
with actual conditions on the coasts of America. 

The topographical description of the new land given in 
the sagas is sometimes typical of certain parts of the Amer- 
ican coast, sometimes of others. Although the localities vis- 
ited and explored by the Norsemen cannot be determined 
exactly, we are led by a process of elimination to certain 
important conclusions as to the probable extent of their 
voyages and the lands they visited. 

In this inquiry it must be realized that confusion may 
have existed in the mind of the Norse explorers and saga- 
writers as to the identity of the various newly discovered 
lands, so that different names may have been given to the 
same land, and the same name may have been applied to 
different lands by different explorers. Thus, for instance, the 
Markland of one expedition may have been the Vinland of 
another, and the Helluland of one expedition may not have 
been the Helluland of another. 

The locations of the three lands, Helluland, Markland, 
and Vinland, are, however, interdependent within each voy- 
age, being connected in some measure by stated courses and 
distances (days' sail). Although in many cases the state- 
ments that concern navigation are vague and their interpre- 
tation doubtful, and although they may be affected by errors, 
we may nevertheless accept as a broad fact that Markland 
was in a lower latitude than Helluland, and that Vinland 
was in a still lower latitude than Markland. If, then, we 



222 THE VOYAGES OF 

assume a location for one of these lands on a certain voyage, 
we therewith, by implication, also make assumptions as to 
the location of the others on the same voyage. It is, there- 
fore, desirable for the sake of clearness to deal with each 
voyage, and each group of voyages, separately. 

BjARNi's Voyage {Gp) 

The first land seen by Bjarni, when driven out of his course 
on the way from Iceland to Greenland, w^as covered with 
woods and had low hills. He sailed on for two days with land 
on the port side, apparently with the wind on the beam, and 
he then sighted a second land, which was flat and wooded. 
He turned the bow from the shore, sailed out on the open sea, 
and continued for three days with a southwest wind, when 
he saw a third land, covered with mountains and glaciers. 
Bjarni kept going along the coast and saw that it was an 
island. Again he turned the stern to the land and sailed out 
on the sea. The wind was still from the southwest and was 
very high. After four days' sail he arrived at Herjulfness in 
Greenland. 

The description of the land seen on the first landfall may 
well be reconciled with the northeastern coast of Newfound- 
land. The second land sighted might be at Hamilton Inlet 
on the Labrador coast, where the land is low and covered 
with scrub woods. The third landfall might be Resolution 
Island, where glacier-like formations are found and where 
also the Grinnell glacier is visible. From Resolution Island 
to Cape Desolation, the southwestern point of Greenland, is 
about four hundred and eighty miles, wdiich distance, with 
a stiff southwesterly wind, might easily be covered in four 
days. 




»-^l''^.;:-': 




Coast Scenery at OstervUle^ Nantucket Sound 

B\ courtesy of Mrs. IVm. L. Garrison 




Coast Scenery at Osterville^ Nantucket Sound 

By courtesy of Mrs. IVm. L. Garrison 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 223 

The itinerary here suggested makes it necessary to assume 
that the daegr (day) referred to in the saga was of twenty- 
four hours, as in the tilfts around Iceland. As explained 
in Chapter IV, a day's sail is in such a case equivalent to 
a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles. 

Leif's Discovery of Vinland on his Return from 
Norway {ER) 

We find in this account only a bare mention of the fact 
that Leif had discovered new lands with vines, self-sown 
wheat-fields, and masiir trees. These brief statements indi- 
cate that Leif's Vinland must have been located south of 
Nova Scotia. 

Leif's and Thorvald's Exploring Voyages 
TO Vinland {Gp) 

Leif first went to the land which Bjarni had seen last. There 
was no grass, but great glaciers were seen inland, and the 
land between the glaciers and the sea looked like one large 
stone. This description corresponds well with Baffin Land, 
which would thus be Leif's Helluland. They sailed on and 
found another land, which was flat and covered with woods, 
but nothing is said as to how many days they sailed. There 
were extensive flat white sand beaches. This land was called 
Markland. Going through the geographical description of 
the coasts of North America, given in Chapter X, it will 
be seen that on the Atlantic coast of Labrador only the 
strand at Cape Porcupine, just south of Hamilton Inlet, cor- 
responds, and that very imperfectly, with this description 
of Markland. Everywhere else the coast is bold and rocky. 
The Atlantic coasts of Newfoundland, of Cape Breton Is- 



224 THE VOYAGES OF 

land, of Nova Scotia, and of the mainland as far as Cape 
Cod Bay, are likewise generally of a bold and rocky nature. 
Only at the southwestern point of Nova Scotia, at Cape 
Sable, do we find a flat coast, in parts sandy, covered with 
woods. Otherwise sandy beaches are found only locally and 
of small extent in the bays or fiords between rocky headlands 
and at the mouth of rivers, especially in Nova Scotia. 

South of Boston Bay, extensive white sandy beaches form 
a characteristic feature of the Atlantic coast, beginning at 
Cape Cod and the adjoining region, including Nantucket 
Sound and the shores of Cape Cod Bay. 

From Markland Leif sailed out on the open sea with a 
northeast wind, and had two davs' sail before he saw land. 
He sailed westward through or into a channel between an 
island and a cape, which extended northward from the land. 
Here the ship ran aground and stood dry at ebb tide; the 
sea was visible only at a great distance. At high tide Leif 
took his ship up a river into a lake, and here he built his 
houses. This place was called Leifsbooths, and the land was 
called Vinland. Salmon was plentiful in the river and in 
the lake. The land seemed so good that there would be no 
need of storing fodder for the cattle for the winter. During 
the winter there came no frost, and the grass withered but 
little. Vinher and vinvid were found and gathered. Trees 
were felled for obtaining a cargo of timber for the ship. 

On Thorvald's expedition to Leifsbooths the Norsemen 
lived by fishing during the winter. In the spring an explor- 
ing party was sent along the western coast, or westward (?) 
in the large boat. The land was found to be beautiful, the 
woods came close to the sea, and there were white sands. 
There were many islands and the water was very shallow. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 225 

The same summer Thorvald sailed with the ship eastward 
(or along the east coast) and north of the land (or north- 
ward along the coast). The words at sumri odru, which lit- 
erally mean "the following summer," are here translated 
"the same summer," namely, that following the spring in 
which the boat expedition was sent out. The explorers came 
to a cape, Kjalarness, and thence sailed eastward along the 
coast (or east of the land) to a fiord, where they landed on 
a beautiful headland covered with woods. This headland 
was called Krossaness. It was here that they met the Skras- 
lings, and that Thorvald lost his life. The general impres- 
sion obtained by this description is of a flat, sandy, and 
wooded coast fringed with shallow lagoons (ponds) or lakes, 
and numerous islands. The woods extended down to the 
white sandy beaches. The climate was mild or warm ; the 
sea was not frozen in the winter, for the Norsemen lived by 
fishing during that season. Grapes were found, and the cattle 
grazed all winter. 

On the basis of this description we shall now try to locate 
Leif's and Thorvald's Vinland: 

1. Finland in Labmdor or Newfoundland. If Markland 
was at Cape Porcupine, w^e must seek Vinland {i.e.^ Leifs- 
booths) , farther down the southeastern coast of Labrador, 
or on the northeast coast of Newfoundland, since it was two 
days' sail with a northeast wind from Markland to Vinland. 
It is clear, however, that these ironbound coasts are entirely 
out of the question. Sandy beaches are, indeed, found here 
and there at the bottom of fiords and bays in such places as 
Sandwich Bay, St. Lewis Inlet, Anse a Loup, Forteau Bay, 
and Blanc Sablon, but in other respects the geographical 
conditions do not at all conform to the description in the 



226 THE VOYAGES OF 

saga. We shall, therefore, discard this solution as at least 
highly improbable. 

2. Finland in the Cape Cod region. If Markland was at 
Cape Sable, Vinland would be on or near the Cape Cod 
peninsula. The two days' sail on the open sea with a north- 
east wind from Markland to Vinland agrees well with this 
solution, and the geographical description corresponds per- 
fectly with the conditions in this region. Since the contour 
of the coast may have undergone considerable changes dur- 
ing the last nine hundred years, it is futile to attempt to 
locate Leifsbooths accurately. Assuming that it was some- 
where in the region of Nantucket Sound, Thorvald's two 
exploring expeditions may, with slight modifications in the 
text, be made to conform fairly well with the configuration 
of the coast. The first expedition went westward through 
the landlocked waters of the sound towards Narragansett 
Bay ; the second went round the east coast of the cape, 
whence they may have sailed across Cape Cod Bay and fol- 
lowed the coast northward. Cape Cod itself may have been 
Kjalarness. Krossaness may have been Nahant, Marblehead 
Neck, or some other headland on this coast. 

3. Vinland at New York Bay. Although the geographical 
conditions in the neighborhood of New York Bay fit the de- 
scription almost as well as at Cape Cod, this solution is less 
probable than the more northern locality. The navigation of 
Thorvald cannot be satisfactorily accounted for. We shall 
therefore regard the second solution as the most probable. 

In order to throw further light on the problem, we shall 
now discuss the important astronomical remark, found in 
the account of Leif's voyage, that day and night were in 
Vinland more nearly of equal length than in Greenland or 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 227 

Iceland, and that the sun had eyktarstadr and dagmalastabr 
on the shortest day of the year. The astronomer H. Geel- 
muyden has shown* that the terms eyktarstadr m\d dagmd- 
lastadr refer to an azimuth at sunset and sunrise respec- 
tively, and not, as supposed by some, to a point of time. 

Geelmuyden determined the exact value of the azimuth 
indicated by eyktarstadr from the following passage in the 
old Icelandic law-book, the Grdgds: "Then is eykt, when 
ut-sudrs-sett is divided into thirds, and the sun has reached 
through two-thirds, and there is one- third left." Since ut- 
sudrs-3Btt is that octant of the horizon which has southwest 
in the middle, that is, from S 22>^° W to S 67>^° W, 
Geelmuyden concludes that eyktarstadr was the direction : 
S \22y2 + ^ X 45] ° W = S 52>^ ° W. He then calculated 
the latitude where the sun would set in this direction on the 
shortest day of the year in the beginning of the eleventh 
century, and found this latitude to be 49° 55' . 

Bearing in mind the crudeness with which the azimuth 
was probably determined, Geelmuyden 's latitude can be 
considered only a mean value. It seems reasonable to admit 
a possible error of at least 5° in the azimuth, to which, under 
the given circumstances, there would correspond an error 
of about 5° in latitude. Moreover, since the sun was prob- 
ably setting and perhaps also rising over the land, the azi- 
muth was apt to be underestimated. Admitting an error of 
several degrees due to this cause, the latitude would be over- 
estimated by the same amount. The region where Leifs- 
booths must be sought would accordingly be between about 
40° and 50° latitude, comprising the coasts from Sandy 
Hook to Halifax. 

* Arki-ufor JVordisk Filologi, III, 128. 



228 THE VOYAGES OF 

The mere fact that the explorers recorded these phenom- 
ena shows that there must have been a considerable dif- 
ference in latitude, probably not less than from 15° to 20°, 
between Greenland and V inland. Now, the Eastern Settle- 
ment in Greenland was in about lat. 60°, and it seems, 
therefore, much more likely that Vinland was in the south- 
ern part of the region determined by the observation, than in 
the northern. Since Cape Cod lies between lat. 41 ° and 42°, 
we find in the astronomical remark further support for the 
belief that Leif's Vinland was in the region of Cape Cod. 

Karlsefni's Expedition {ER) 

We base the geographical analysis of this voyage on the 
account of ER, which in this case appears to be the most 
complete and reliable. The few statements of geographical 
bearing found in the Flatey Book appear to be borrowed 
from the description of Leif's Vinland, and are based on 
the assumption that Karlsefni went to Leifsbooths. 

According to ER^ Karlsefni's expedition first sailed from 
Ericsfiord to the Western Settlement, where it appears that 
Gudrid's farm in Lysufiord was visited. From Lysufiord 
the expedition went to Bjarney which was probably sit- 
uated on the coast between lat. 64° and 69° (see Chap- 
ter II) ; in other words, it sailed from three hundred to six 
hundred miles up along the Greenland coast before it started 
across Davis Strait. By some this navigation is considered 
unreasonable, and is taken to prove that the whole. story is 
unreliable, but here, as in many other cases, a more care- 
ful study of the actual conditions reveals an explanation 
which transforms the ' ' unreasonable ' ' statement into im- 
portant internal evidence of truth. In fact, several good rea- 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 229 

sons may be given for the navigation followed by Karlsefni, 
apart from a desire, on his part, to visit the farm of Gudrid. 

In the early summer months the southwest coast of 
Greenland is blocked by the East Pack, sometimes, as for 
instance in 1902,* from Cape Farewell up to lat. 66°. An 
open channel, however, is left along the coast. It is through 
this channel, for instance, that the cryolith ships, leaving 
Ivigtut during this season, have to sail northward, until they 
reach a point where they are able to cross the ice-laden cur- 
rent. How far north the ships have to sail inside the ice de- 
pends on ice conditions, which vary from year to year. Thus 
Karlsefni was perhaps forced to sail up along the coast, at 
least as far north as the Western Settlement, before he could 
get through the ice. 

Another reason why the expedition went so far north and 
west before starting may be found in the fact that it ob- 
tained thereby a good height before steering across Davis 
Strait with the northerly and northwesterly winds which 
prevail there at that season. f Karlsefni may have benefited 
by the unfortunate experience of Thorstein, who was driven 
too far to the east on his voyage. 

Finally, at the Western Settlement the expedition would 
be nearer the narrowest part of Davis Strait, a fact which 
may have been known from earlier voyages. 

In other words, the navigation followed by Karlsefni was 
precisely that which would be followed under the circum- 
stances by navigators who were acquainted with the condi- 
tions of wind and ice and with the geography of Davis Strait, 
and who were bound for Baffin Land or northern Labrador. 

*V. Garde, The State of the Ice in the Arctic Seas, Copenhagen, 1902. 
t V. Garde, Windcharts, Copenhagen, 1900. 



230 THE VOYAGES OF 

From Bjarney the explorers sailed with a north wind 
for two days, when they saw land. This land was called 
Helluland because large flat stones were found there. These 
stones, according to one version, were more than the height 
of two men. There were also many white foxes. There is no 
mention of glaciers in this account. 

If the explorers started one morning from a point on the 
Greenland coast in about lat. 66°, and if they sailed in a 
southwesterly direction (by theNorsemen considered south- 
erly) with a speed of about six knots, in clear weather they 
would sight Baffin Land, or Resolution Island, two days 
later, in the evening. In case of mirage, so common in these 
regions during the summer, land may have been sighted 
already in the morning, two days after the start. This ex- 
planation is consistent with the account, if we reckon the 
dsegr of the saga to be of twenty-four hours' duration. If the 
explorers started from a point somewhat farther to the south, 
say in lat. 64° or 65°, which is more likely, after two days' 
sail they may have sighted Four Peaks in northern Lab- 
rador. The large stones, hellur^ may well be taken to refer 
to the boulders so common in Baffin Land and Labrador. 
Foxes are likewise abundant in both of these countries. 
Hence we conclude that the Helluland of ER was most 
probabl}^ the northern part of Labrador, or, possibly, the 
southern part of Baffin Land. 

It is of interest to mention here the reference to Hellu- 
land that is found in a later recension of the mythical 
Orvar Odd's Saga, which probably dates from the fourteenth 
century. Orvar Odd, in search of his deadly enemy, came 
to Helluland's obygdir, that is, Helluland's deserts. They 
sailed to the Greenland Sea and to the southwest from the 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 231 

land.* Odd's son Vignir asked leave to sail ahead and show 
the way. 

" That day they saw two rocks rise up out of the sea. 
Odd wondered much at this, and they sailed in between 
the rocks. Towards evening they saw a large island. Odd 
brought his ship to the shore. Vignir asked why he did 
that. Odd ordered five men to go ashore and look for water. 
Vignir said that was unnecessary, and did not allow any 
of the men from his own ship to accompany them. But when 
Odd's men had gone ashore on the island, it was not long 
before the island sank and they were all drowned. The 
island was covered with heather on the top, and they did 
not see it come up again. The rocks also had disappeared, 
when they looked in that direction." 

As pointed out by Emil Svensen,f this tale indicates that 
Odd reached a place where the tidal range was very great, 
and he suggests the Bay of Fundy as the most likely place. 
It seems, however, much more probable that the tale refers 
to some point on the coasts of Hudson Strait, where the 
tidal range reaches some forty feet and which is much 
nearer to Greenland. If the tale has any actual foundation, 
it thus supports our conclusion as to the location of Hel- 
luland. 

In Gripla % it is stated that opposite Greenland lies Fur- 
dustrands, "where there is so hard frost that the land 
is not, as far as known, inhabited. South of this land is 
Helluland, which is called Skraslingland, and from there it 

* " Sipan sigla peir partil er peir kvomu i Greenlandshaf, snua pa sudr ok 
x'estr fyri landit." 

i Finland och Vinlandsfdrderna, Historisk Tidsskrift, Stockholm, 1889. 
tBjom Johnson's Greenland Annals, GHM, III, 224. 



232 THE VOYAGES OF 

is not far to Vinland the Good, M^hich some think extends 
from Africa. Between Vinland and Greenland is Ginnun- 
gagap, which flows from the sea, called Mare oceanum and 
which surrounds the whole earth. ' ' The original membrane 
of this manuscript is lost ; it is likely that it was written 
long before the discovery of America by Columbus. Al- 
though the geographical notions of the writer are evidently 
vague and confused, his statements seem to indicate that 
the Greenlanders knew a land north of Helluland. If Hellu- 
land is Labrador, the Furdustrands here referred to would 
thus be in Baffin Land. If Helluland is the southern part 
of Baffin Land, Furdustrands might be in the northern 
part of this island. 

For a correct interpretation of the name Furbustrandir^ it 
is of importance to note that it is here applied to a barren 
iron-bound coast, probably of great extent. In Iceland the 
name Furdustrandir\s not, to the author's knowledge, made 
use of, but the barren and bold coast between Cape North 
and Hunafloi, which is without any deep indentation, is 
called Strandir, which simply means the coasts or shores 
(see Map I), and this name occurs in several compounds. 
The wordjl/rdu means ' ' very, " " strong, " " exceedingly, ' ' 
or "remarkable," and we are told in FB that it was there 
applied because the strandir were so long to sail by. 

From Helluland the explorers sailed for two days and 
turned from south towards southeast, and found a land, 
wooded and with many animals,* This navigation corre- 
sponds well with the general trend of the Labrador coast. 
Markland would accordingly be somewhere on the middle 
of the coast, as at Nain, in lat. 56^ ° , or perhaps somewhat 

* padan sigldupeir 2 d£gr, ok bra til landsudrs or sudri. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 233 

farther south. It could not be much farther north, since 
Markland means Woodland, and since the limit of trees 
is in lat. 58 ° . A bear was killed on an off-lying island, prob- 
ably a polar bear, which animal was at that time abundant 
on the Labrador coast. 

From Markland the explorers sailed on southward along 
the coast for a long time and came to a cape, Kjalarness. 
The land was on the starboard side. There were long strands 
and sands. The strands were called Furdustrands. Then 
the land became indented with bays, and they stood into a 
fiord, at the mouth of which there was an island, Straumey, 
round which there were strong currents. Straumey was 
covered with birds' eggs. The strong currents show that 
Straumfiord must have been a deep inlet of great extent, 
probably widening out inside the entrance, for the tides 
otherwise are not strong on the Labrador coast, except at 
Hudson Strait. 

It is here mentioned that there were mountains, a fact 
which at once excludes from consideration the coast of the 
mainland south of Mount Desert, and limits our conjectures 
to Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and perhaps cer- 
tain parts of the mainland from Mount Desert northward. 
The winter in Straumfiord was severe, and the fishing failed, 
conditions which correspond best with the coast of Labra- 
dor and Newfoundland, for they are blocked by ice through- 
out the winter, but which do not correspond with the tem- 
perate climate of Nova Scotia, or with the coast of Maine 
and New Brunswick. 

It appears that the explorers realized that they had not 
yet reached Vinland, for it is told in the saga that Thor- 
hall Hunter was dissatisfied at not obtaining any wine, and 



234 THE VOYAGES OF 

that he finally departed from Straumfiord with the purpose, 
according to his verse, of returning to Greenland. He sailed 
northward along Furdustrands and past Kjalarness, intend- 
ing to beat past the coast or around the cape, to the westward, 
but there he met strong westerly winds and was driven 
over to Ireland. 

Two exploring expeditions were carried out from Straum- 
fiord as a base, and are described in some detail. The first 
expedition v'vent southward for a long time, apparently along 
an eastern coast, until it reached a river, which flowed out 
into the sea through a lake. There were great beaches, eyrar 
(a term that will be discussed presently), before or across 
the mouth of the river {fyri drbsiniim) , and they could not 
enter the river except at high tide. They sailed into the 
mouth of the river and called the place Hop. 

Here they found self-sown wheat-fields on the low land, 
but vines where the ground was high ; vinber are not men- 
tioned. There were many fish and plenty of game in the 
woods. There was no snow during the winter, and the cattle 
lived by grazing. They had several visits from the Skrse- 
lings, the first in the early summer soon after their arrival at 
Hop, the second and third in the following spring, when the 
Skraslings brought skins and traded with the Norsemen. 
This peaceful intercourse, however, soon came to an end, 
and a fight occurred, after which the Norsemen decided to 
leave. They soon after sailed northward along the coast. On 
their way to Straumfiord they found five Skraelings, whom 
they killed. The Norsemen afterward came to a cape, where 
there was a great number of animals, and the cape was com- 
pletely covered with dung. On their return to Straumfiord 
they found an abundance of all that they needed. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 235 

The second expedition apparently departed from Straum- 
fiord the same summer that Karlsefni returned from Hop. 
It went northward around Kjalarness, and thence west- 
ward with the land on the port side. The country there was 
a wooded wilderness, with scarcely any open spaces. When 
they had sailed for a long time, they came to a place where 
a river flowed down from the land from east to west, which 
shows that the coast was probably trending southward. 
They sailed into the mouth of the river and lay to by the 
southern bank. It was here that Thorvald Ericsson was 
killed by a native (uniped) , who fired an arrow at him. There 
were mountains which they thought were the same as those 
seen at Hop, and they thought that there was very nearly 
the same distance from Straumfiord to both places. 

In old Norse the term hop has a definite meaning, refer- 
ring to an inlet, fiord, or harbor, characterized by a narrow 
entrance, often the outlet of a river, and widening out in- 
side, not far from the entrance, to a larger expanse of water, 
frequently a lake, or lagoon, into which a river empties. 
Hops are found in Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and else- 
where, where the Norsemen settled . The Maps VI show sev- 
eral examples of this formation, which still bear the name of 
Hop. 

The term eyrar is applied to long narrow strips of sand 
and gravel formed at the entrance to rivers and fiords. In 
some cases they take the shape of spits or tongues project- 
ing at right angles to the coast, often curving round at the 
end. Eyrar oi this type are in English called "hooks," and 
are found, for instance, on several western fiords in Iceland, 
at Provincetown on Cape Cod, and in many other places. 
In other cases eyrar are formed at the mouth of rivers, par- 



236 THE VOYAGES OF 

ticularly on flat and sandy coasts. Here they take the shape 
of long and narrow beaches, separating a large expanse of 
shallow water, a pond or lagoon, from the sea. The beaches 
being broken by one or more channels, through which the 
river has an outlet, we have a combination of a hop with 
eyrar^ such as described at the Hop of the saga. This for- 
mation is very common on the Atlantic coast of the United 
States, and is in fact a typical feature on the shores of Cape 
Cod, Long Island, New Jersey, and farther south. The hop 
at Hunafiord in Iceland, shown on Map VI, belongs to the 
same class, but the eyri has here in course of time devel- 
oped to an extensive and broad sandy plain. 

We might thus be led to believe that the Hop of the 
saga was either on Cape Cod or farther south, were it not 
for the fact that, according to the saga, the land was of a 
mountainous nature and that no mountains are found on 
this part of the coast. The only mountainous peninsulas of 
any size on the eastern coasts of North America, stretch- 
ing out in a northerly or northeasterly direction, are Nova 
Scotia with Cape Breton Island and the northwestern part 
of JS^ewfoundland . 

When we now try to reconcile the geographical account 
of Karlsefni's voyage with the conditions actually existing 
in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, we soon meet several 
obvious discrepancies in point of topography and naviga- 
tion. In fact, it seems impossible to find any solution which 
tallies completely Avith the ^^a. The tale given in ER^ 
which aFfirst sight looks connected and logical, buttressed 
by its good style and antiquity, does not stand a careful criti- 
cal analysis any more than does the account of the voyages 
given in Gp. Like this latter, it falls to pieces, and can be 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 237 

assembled to a connected whole only after certain modifica- 
tions and transpositions. 

We are driven to the conclusion that what is presented 
in the Saga of Eric the Red as one combined expedition is 
in reality a compound of two or more voyages. Probably a 
partial superposition of Leif's and Thorvald's voyages on 
that of Karlsefni has taken place in ER, while, on the other 
hand, the voyages of Karlsefni and Freydis are wrongly 
separated in Gp. The description of ez/rar, vines, self-sown 
wheat, and the mild winter cHmate at Hop (ER), as also 
the mention of vinber on Karlsefni 's voyage (Gp), should 
probably all be transferred to Leif's and Thorvald's voy- 
ages. These traits may have been borrowed because the ex- 
plorers were anxioas to make people believe that they had 
reached Vinland. Similarly, the account of Karlsefni's nav- 
igation on his two expeditions from Straumfiord appears 
to have been corrupted to some extent by an intermingling 
with the report of Thorvald's navigation. 

With these assumptions we have no difficulty in offering 
a reasonable solution of the geography of Karlsefni's voy- 
age. The location of Straumfiord must, on account of its 
severe winter climate and its mountainous surroundings, 
be sought either in Labrador or Newfoundland.- The navi- 
gation from Straumfiord to Hop and to the other side of a 
mountainous peninsula which extended northward appears 
to have taken place without crossing any great stretch of 
open sea. Hence the peninsula can hardly have been Nova 
Scotia and Cape Breton Island, since we find no statement 
in the saga to indicate that the explorers sailed across a wide 
channel like Cabot Strait. Nor do we find any indication 
that they sailed round the eastern extremity of Newfound- 



238 THE VOYAGES OF 

land. It is simply stated that they sailed southward along 
the coast. 

The peninsula that best fits the description is Le Petit 
Nord, which extends for one hundred and fifty miles in a 
NNE direction from the northwestern corner of Newfound- 
land, ending in Cape Bauld, and separated by the narrow 
Strait of Belle Isle from Labrador. If we adhere strictly to 
the text of the saga, we might now conclude that Straum- 
fiord was on one of the bays on the northeast point of this 
peninsula, as, for instance, on Hare Bay. In fact, the de- 
scription of the navigation suggests that Straumfiord was 
situated on the east coast, but near the extreme point of a 
peninsula which extended towards northeast. In such a case 
Cape Bauld would be Kjalarness and Furdustrands would 
be the coast between this cape and Straumfiord. Hop would 
be found a considerable distance farther south on the east 
coast of the peninsula, and we have no difficulty in finding 
a river on the west coast of Newfoundland which would 
mark the extreme point of the last exploring expedition. 
This solution agrees also with Thorhall Hunter's naviga- 
tion when he beat westward past Kjalarness, and corre- 
sponds with the conception of Vinland according to SigurSr 
Stefansson's map. It is, however, contradicted, if not dis- 
proved, by the fact that none of the bays on the east coast of 
Le Petit Nord exhibit the feature of strong currents which 
gave to Straumfiord its name. Moreover, the length of the ex- 
ploring expeditions undertaken from Straumfiord to points 
at the foot of the peninsula in such a case would not be more 
than from one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles, and 
it is unlikely that the natives who attacked the explorers at 
Hop would leave them unmolested at a point on the same 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 239 

coast only one hundred miles farther north. Finally, we find 
no place for Furdustrands between Kjalarness and Straum- 
fiord. 

For such reasons we conclude that while the exploring 
expeditions probably did take place down along the east and 
west coasts of Le Petit Nord, Straumfiord was not situ- 
ated on this peninsula, but somewhere on the east coast of 
southern Labrador. This solution becomes possible if we 
admit that a slight confusion exists in the geographical 
statements of the sagas. 

It may be thought unlikely that the explorers should set- 
tle on the inhospitable coast of Labrador when they could 
find better conditions by simply keeping on southward along 
the coast. As shown in the last chapter, however, the fiords 
in southern Labrador are, many of them, very attractive in 
summer time. The place which corresponds better than any 
other on the east coast of Labrador with the description of 
Straumfiord is Sandwich Bay, which in the eighteenth cen- 
tury was selected by Cartwright as the most suitable place 
on this coast for a settlement. The tidal currents round the 
islands at the entrance to the bay are strong, as described 
in the sagas. 

Sandwich Bay is situated just south of the sandy strand 
at Cape Porcupine which separates it from Hamilton Inlet. 
North of Hamilton Inlet the coast trends northwest to Cape 
Harrison, and thence for a long distance it trends still more 
to the west, corresponding well with the navigation of Thor- 
hall Hunter when he sailed from Straumfiord. South of 
Sandwich Bay, between this bay and the Strait of Belle Isle, 
there is a long stretch of uniform barren coast which may 
well have deserved the name of Furdustrands. 



240 THE VOYAGES OF 

We shall here give Captain Cartwright's impressions 
of this coast and Sandwich Bay, in an abridged extract 
from his Journal,* describing a voyage from Alexis River to 
Sandwich Bay. 

"Of all the dreary sights which I have yet beheld, none 
ever came up to the appearance of this coast, between Alexis 
River [in lat. 52°35'] and Sandwich Bay. Most of the is- 
lands are high ; the faces of all the hills which front the sea 
are scarce anything but bare rocks. The spots where any 
verdure was likely to appear, were covered with drift banks 
of snow ; the shore was barricaded with ice seven feet thick 
[in the beginning of July, 1775] ; most of the best harbors 
were then not open. The ice extended at least fifty leagues 
from the shore. But we no sooner entered Cartwright Har- 
bor, than the face of nature was so greatly and suddenly 
changed, as if we had shot within the tropics. There we saw 
neither ice nor snow ; the hills were of a moderate height, 
completely covered with spruces, larches, firs and birch, 
and the shores were bordered round with -s^rdant grass. 
The water too, instead of pans of ice, ^^ as mottled over 
with ducks and drakes. The sun was extremely hot, and 
zephyrus played upon us with tropical warmth." 

We can well imagine the delight of the Norsemen on get- 
ting inside the outer barren islands and entering this smil- 
ing bay, rich in game and fish, with good timber and good 
grass for the cattle, and with an excellent harbor. We can 
understand that the explorers, not realizing the severity of 
the Labrador winter, should determine to settle there, at 
least provisionally, until they had discovered better places 
for settlement farther south. 

* Townsend, Cartwright^ s Labrador Journal. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 241 

The first exploring expedition, we now imagine, went 
down along the coast southwards, that is, along Furdu- 
strands, across the Strait of Belle Isle to Cape Bauld (Kja- 
larness), and down along the east coast of Le Petit Nord 
peninsula, at least as far as Sop's Arm on White Bay. Sop's 
Arm, or some other inlet on the northeast coast of New- 
foundland, then becomes Hop. 

The second expedition from Straumfiord went down 
along the west coast of Newfoundland, and may have 
reached Bonne Bay or one of the bays farther south. The 
"wooded wilderness" along which they sailed, according 
to the saga, corresponds well with the coast facing the Strait 
of Belle Isle and the gulf north of Bonne Bay. High moun- 
tains are found between Sop's Arm and the western fiords, 
visible from both sides as represented in the saga. Bonne 
Bay is about the same distance from Cape Bauld as Sop's 
Arm. 

Comparing Maps VI and IV, it is seen that, as to con- 
figuration. Sop's Arm well deserves the name of Hop, but 
many other inlets farther to the east fulfil this requirement. 
In fact, although Sop's Arm in several respects corresponds 
well with the Hop of the saga, we do not insist upon this 
locality as the only possible solution. The statement in the 
saga that the same mountains were visible from Hop as 
were seen from the western fiord may be erroneous. Sop's 
Arm, with its steep, densely wooded shores, does not offer 
as good conditions for settlement, notably as to pastures, as 
other places further to the east, such as, for instance. Bay 
of Exploits and Gander Bay. 

We must, therefore, admit that Hop may have been any- 
where on the northeast coast, and the western fiord any-; 



242 THE VOYAGES OF 

where on the western coast of Newfoundland. The natives 
at Hop, as well as the uniped seen on the last expedition, 
were probably Red Indians. 

On the return voyage from Straumfiord to Greenland, 
Karlsefni had a southerly wind and touched again at Mark- 
land. The description of the natives whom they met here 
seems to show that they were Eskimos, thus confirming the 
theory that Markland was in Labrador. 

It is clear that other solutions than the one here proposed 
can be offered, but it seems certain that none can corre- 
spond in a complete manner with the account in ER. Any 
conceivable solution will conflict with the saga in one or 
more important points. The solution which, so far, has been 
most generally accepted, is that offered by Storm, who 
places Markland in Newfoundland, Straumfiord and Hop 
on the southeast coast of Nova Scotia, and Kjalarness with 
Furdustrands on Cape Breton Island. The second expedi- 
tion from Straumfiord reached some point on the west coast 
of Cape Breton Island or on the north coast of Nova Scotia. 
This theory is so fully and well explained by Storm in his 
essay on the Vinland voyages that there is no reason to en- 
ter into details here. So far as the navigation is concerned, 
it does not correspond better with the text of the saga than 
that explained above, where Straumfiord is on Hare Bay on 
Le Petit Nord, and the climatic conditions on the southeast 
coast of Nova Scotia do not correspond with the A\inter cli- 
mate at Straumfiord. Moreover, as already explained, the 
saga gives no grounds for belief that the explorers sailed 
round the extreme end of Newfoundland and that they 
crossed the sea at Cabot Strait. 

A recent writer on the subject, Mr. William H. Bab- 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 243 

cock,* places Straumfiord in Passamaquoddy Bay, New 
Brunswick, and identifies Straumey with Grand Manan 
Island. He places Hop in Mount Hope Bay, situated on the 
boundary between Massachusetts and Rhode Island, adja- 
cent to and connected with Narragansett Bay. This theory 
is supported by the fact that there are strong currents round 
Grand Manan ; but on the other hand, the fishing would 
hardly fail during winter, as it did at Straumey, and neither 
the navigation from Straumfiord southward nor the moun- 
tains found at Hop can be made to correspond even remotely 
with the actual geographical conditions. The second expe- 
dition from Straumfiord Mr. Babcock believes to have 
extended along the east coast of Nova Scotia and, as also 
assumed by Storm, round Cape Breton to some point on the 
west coast of Cape Breton Island. 



* Early JVbrse Visits to JVorth America, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collec- 
tion, vol. 59, No. 19. 



CHAPTER XII 

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE VOYAGES 

IT has been shown in previous chapters that the saga 
accounts reveal several inconsistencies, showing clearly 
that an intermingling of the tales must have taken place, 
and that, therefore, any attempt to interpret the voyages, 
whether geographically or historically, strictly in accord- 
ance with the sagas, must fail. Only by transposing and re- 
arranging the events is it possible to form a connected pic- 
ture of what actually took place. Obviously, such an attempt 
at a reconstruction of the voyages must at best be conjecture, 
and other explanations may be offered. Though the solution 
here presented is that which, in accordance with the fore- 
going discussion, appears to the author most probable, the 
historical and geographical material, as well as the critical 
discussion, in previous chapters have purposely been given 
such form and scope that other solutions may be fully and 
fairly considered by the reader. 

1. BjarnVs Voyage. Even if we assume, as asserted by 
Storm, that this voyage is a product of the imagination, the 
account has considerable geographical interest, because it 
gives us the conception which people in Iceland had formed 
of navigation to America and along the American coast at 
the time when the Flatey Book was written, that is, more 
than one hundred years before the discoveries of Columbus. 
Since this conception corresponds closely with the actual 
conditions, it must have been based on some facts. 

In 985 or 986 Bjarni sailed from Iceland, bound for 
Greenland, but he w as driven far out of his course by north- 
erly winds and finally sighted land on the northeast coast 



246 THE VOYAGES OF 

of Newfoundland. Knowing that Greenland was covered 
with glaciers, he realized that he was too far to the south, 
but he cannot have had any idea of his longitude. He sailed 
northwest and made land a second time oif Hamilton Inlet. 
Following the trend of the coast, he reached Resolution 
Island, where he saw the glaciers of this island and of 
Baffin Land. Seeing that the land was barren and uninhab- 
ited, Bjarni now realized that he was too far to the west. He 
therefore steered eastward across Davis Strait, and struck 
the southern part of Greenland, where the Eastern Settle- 
ment was situated. As seen from Map VII, this navigation 
conforms to actual conditions, if we assume a day's sail to 
represent a distance of about one hundred and fifty miles. 

^.Leif s Return Voyage from Norway. In the year 1000 
Leif Ericsson returned from Norway, bound for Greenland. 
He probably sailed between the Faroes and the Shetland 
Isles, but was driven far to the southwest, and finally made 
land on the coast of America, probably near Cape Cod. Leif 
sent out two Scotch runners to explore the country, and these 
men brought back grapes and some wheat-like grasses. 
Perhaps it was on this occasion that a German among the 
crew asserted that the fruits found were actually grapes. 
Thereafter, Leif returned to Greenland. On some of the 
outer skerries he rescued a shipwrecked crew, and salved 
the cargo, which consisted of lumber and other goods. 

3. Ijdf s Voyage of Exploration to Vinland (see Map 
VII). Leif, who was young and adventurous, experienced 
as a seaman, and who had now, moreover, acquired some 
wealth, determined to follow up his success by further ex- 
ploring the new and rich land that he had discovered. He 
fitted out a ship and sailed from Greenland in the year 1001 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 247 

or 1002. He followed the reverse course of Bjarni, which 
was probably at the same time the reverse course of his own 
previous voyage. His first landfall was the southern part of 
Baffin Land, probably Resolution Island. He found the land 
stony and barren, and in the background he saw the Grin- 
nell glacier. This land he called Helluland. He sailed south- 
ward along the coast of Labrador, round Newfoundland, 
and down along the coast of Nova Scotia, till he came to its 
southwestern extremity at Cape Sable. He gave the name 
Markland to Nova Scotia on account of its wooded nature. 
He saw that this was not yet the southern land which he dis- 
covered on his previous voyage, and sailed out on the sea 
in a southwesterly direction. Two days' sail brought him to 
Cape Cod. He landed on the shores of the cape at some point 
where there was a long, narrow beach outside a large ex- 
panse of water, a pond or a lagoon, into which he entered. 
A river or brook flowed into the pond. This pond may have 
been on the east coast of the Cape Cod peninsula, but more 
probably it was on the south shore, in Nantucket Sound. 
Leif settled here for the winter. The climate was mild, and 
the azimuth of the sun on the shortest day showed clearly 
that the latitude was much lower than in Greenland or Ice- 
land. Houses were built, probably log huts, and the place 
was called Leifsbooths. Grapes were found, and it appears 
that a great quantity was gathered, whence the land was 
called Vinland. During the winter trees were felled and a 
cargo of timber was obtained for the ship. When the spring 
came, Leif sailed back to Greenland. 

The entire story of this independent voyage of explora- 
tion of Leif may possibly have been made up on the basis of 
his return voyage from Norway, and the statements about 



248 THE VOYAGES OF 

the construction of houses, Leifsbooths, may be later addi- 
tions. The tale still possesses great historic value, and the 
following tale of Thorvald's expedition is not thereby in- 
validated. 

4. ThorvalcT s Voyage. Thorvald, Leif's brother, thought 
that the new land had not been sufficiently explored, and 
obtained permission from Leif to use his ship for a new 
expedition to Vinland. Thorvald consulted his brother, who 
gave him careful sailing directions. The year after Leif's 
return, he sailed, reached Leifsbooths without mishap, and 
put up there for the winter. During the winter the explorers 
lived by fishing. 

In the spring Thorvald sent an exploring party westward 
in his large boat, while he himself went in the opposite direc- 
tion Avith the ship. The boat expedition found the country 
beautiful and wooded ; the woods grew down close to the 
white sandy beaches. There were many islands, and the 
water Avas shallow. On an island to the west, probably off 
Buzzard's Bay, they found a wooden shed or screen, evi- 
dently made by man, which they thought w^as for storage 
of grain. They returned to Leifsbooths in the fall. Li the 
meantime Thorvald sailed eastward in the sound round 
Monomoy Point and up along Nauset Beach to Cape Cod. 
Here they were struck by a heavy gale, the ship was driven 
ashore, and the keel was broken. They stayed here for a 
long time while they repaired the ship. The cape was called 
Kjalarness. 

Thence they crossed Cape Cod Bay and sailed up along 
the coast northward, exploring the bays on the way. They 
came to a headland (Nahant, Marblehead, or one of the other 
headlands on this coast) covered all over with w^oods. The 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 249 

coast was steep, so that they could bring the ship right up 
to the shore and put out the gangplank. The scenery was 
very beautiful, and Thorvald liked it so well that he decided 
to setde there. On returning to the ship they discovered on 
a beach inside the headland three small hillocks, which, 
on nearer view, turned out to be three canoes, under each 
of which three Indians were sleeping. They surprised and 
killed these men except one, who escaped, after which they 
went back to the headland . They now discovered what they 
believed to be human dwellings higher up the fiord, prob- 
ably Indian wigwams. Later, while the Norsemen were 
sleeping, they were surprised by the Indians, who came up 
in great number in their canoes. Thorvald let his men take 
a defensive position by holding up the shields along the sides 
of the ships. The Indians attacked them with bows and 
arrows, but soon withdrew. Thorvald, however, had re- 
ceived a wound, from which he died. He was buried on the 
headland which was called Krossaness. The Norsemen now 
sailed back to Leifsbooths, where they found their comrades ; 
they stayed there during the winter, got a cargo of timber 
for their ship, and returned to Greenland the next spring. 
5. Thorsteiii' s Voyage. The third of Eric the Red's sons, 
Thorstein, now decided to go to Vinland in order to re- 
cover the body of his brother Thorvald, probably also for 
further exploration and to obtain timber. He persuaded his 
father to go with him, perhaps because he himself lacked 
experience in navigation on the ocean. At the last moment, 
however, Eric decided to remain at home. Thorstein sailed 
from Ericsfiord in the best of spirits, but was soon driven 
out of his course. He drifted about on the ocean for several 
months, got within sight of Iceland, saw birds from Ireland, 



250 THE VOYAGES OF 

and finally returned to Ericsfiord in an exhausted condition 
at the beginning of the winter. 

This account, which is given in essentially the same form 
both in Gp and ER^ is of the greatest interest and impor- 
tance, because it shows how completely the Norsemen were 
at the mercy of wind and weather. If a ship, bound for the 
American coast from Greenland, could be driven to Iceland 
and almost to Ireland, we can understand that Bjarni, sail- 
ing from Iceland bound for Greenland, and Leif, sailing 
from the Shetland Isles to Greenland, could be driven over 
to the coasts of America. 

6. KarlsefnV s Expeditio?! .Ywoyeavs after Thor stein's re- 
turn from his fruitless voyage, Karlsefni set out on a great 
expedition to Vinland with the purpose of settling in the new 
country. He had one ship together with Snorri Thorbrand- 
sen. Another ship was under Bjarni Grimolfsson and Thor- 
hall Gamlason, two Icelandic merchants, and a third ship 
under Thorvard and his wife Freydis, a daughter of Eric 
the Red. Although Karlsefni may have been recognized as 
the leader, being very experienced as a seaman, it is likely 
that the different partners in the expedition preserved almost 
complete independence. 

In the same ship with Freydis was Thorhall Hunter, 
a man who had not adopted the Christian faith, and who, 
perhaps, for this reason, was not well spoken of by the saga- 
writers. He was a man of considerable experience as a pilot 
in the unsettled regions. 

They brought with them all kinds of live stock, and prob- 
ably a very complete outfit. With the large number of men, 
in all one hundred and sixty, the three ships can hardly have 
carried provisions and fodder for more than a few weeks. 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 251 

It is clear, therefore, that this expedition was not so mobile 
as previous ones, which carried no live stock and only a 
small amount of stores; it would naturally proceed in stages, 
establishing a base at the first point found suitable for that 
purpose. 

Divergences in opinion between the different partners of 
this large undertaking would easily break it up, and quar- 
rels might arise which would prevent a unity of purpose. 
We can thus understand why the expedition, although 
under an able and experienced leader, did not reach as far as 
previous ones under Leif and Thorvald, and why it finally 
abandoned its project altogether. 

The expedition started from a point on the Greenland 
coast north of the Western Settlement, probably in lat. 64° , 
and after a few days the high, mountainous coast of north- 
ern Labrador was sighted. They called this land Helluland. 
They continued southeastward along the coast as far as 
Nain, or perhaps a little farther south, sailed inside the outer 
islands, and went ashore. They found the land wooded and 
called it Markland. Thereafter they sailed southeastward 
along the coast, round Cape Harrison, and into thedeep bay, 
or indentation of the coast, off Hamilton Inlet. They sailed 
past the low, sandy Porcupine Strand and into Sandwich 
Bay. Perhaps Earl Island was their Straumey, for round 
this island the tides are strong. It is on the channel between 
Earl Island and the mainland that Cartwright Harbor is 
now situated. In any case, we shall here assume that Sand- 
wich Bay was Straumfiord. This bay, with its wealth of 
fish, birds, and other animals, its good pastures and dense 
woods, must have appeared extremely attractive to the ex- 
plorers, who decided to remain there during the winter. 



252 THE VOYAGES OF 

Already in December, however, the bay froze over, and 
the winter soon set in with an unexpected severity, for 
which the Norsemen were not prepared. The fishing failed, 
and towards spring the little colony was in a very exhausted 
condition. Thorhall Hunter was much dissatisfied; he and 
probably others were disappointed at not having reached 
the promised land of wine. The ice did not break up on the 
coast till late in June, when the Norsemen were so lucky as 
to find a whale that had drifted ashore on one of the outer 
islands. Soon the ice broke up completely, fishing recom- 
menced, and they had thereafter no lack of provisions. Thor- 
hall now sailed away with one of the ships, wishing to return 
to Greenland. He sailed out of the bay and commenced to 
beat northwestward past Cape Harrison, but he met heavy 
westerly gales and was driven out to sea and lost. 

Karlsefni sailed southward along the Labrador coast as 
far as the Strait of Belle Isle, and this part of the coast he 
called Furdustrands. He crossed the Strait of Belle Isle, 
rounded Cape Bauld, and sailed down along the east coast 
of Le Petit Nord peninsula to Sop's Arm, or perhaps across 
White Bay to one of the inlets on Notre Dame Bay, or even 
further east. He settled there for the winter and built log 
houses. He called the place Hop. The name Kjalarness was 
given to Cape Bauld, 

The explorers had not been long at Hop before the natives 
appeared, probably Red Indians. They were friendly but 
timid, and soon paddled away in their canoes. During the 
winter Karlsefni had his men fell trees and hew timber, and 
the timber was laid on the rocks to dry. Early in the spring 
the Indians came back, according to ER in their boats, but 
according to Gp out of the Avoods. They brought with them 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 253 

various skins, which they sold to the Norsemen for red cloth 
and milk. Karlsefni's bull frightened the natives, who tried 
to escape into the houses when the bull chased them, but 
Karlsefni ordered the doors to be barred, as he did not want 
to have the Indians enter the houses. While the bartering 
was going on, it happened that one of the natives tried to 
steal weapons from the Norsemen, who thereupon killed 
him. The natives fled, but Karlsefni had a strong fence of 
palisades put up round the houses, and everything was made 
ready for defence. 

At the end of three weeks the Indians returned in much 
greater numbers. This time they came shouting their war- 
cries, leaving no doubt of their intentions. After a severe 
fight, the Indians were beaten off", but the Norsemen had 
suffered great losses. Karlsefni, seeing that it would be im- 
possible for the Norsemen to hold their own against the 
much more numerous natives, decided to leave at once. 
He sailed northward shortly after and arrived safely in 
Straumfiord. 

In the hope of finding another more suitable and safer 
place of settlement, Karlsefni soon after sailed southward 
again, this time with only one ship. He sailed through the 
Strait of Belle Isle, and down along the western, densely . 
wooded coast of Le Petit Nord as far as Bonne Bay or Hum- 
ber River. They lay to at the southern bank of a river, and 
here were attacked by an Indian, who killed one of their men 
with an arrow . They saw here a mountain range which they 
believed to be the same as that which they had seen from 
Hop. Karlsefni, not feeling safe from further attacks of the 
Indians, who had by this time evidently been aroused all over 
the land, decided to go back to Straumfiord. He arrived there 



254 THE VOYAGES OF 

at the end of the summer, and they now spent their third 
winter in the new land. During this winter the good rela- 
tions between the different crews were disturbed by quarrels 
which arose over the women. Exactly what took place is 
not known, but probably there was fighting of a serious na- 
ture, perhaps even murderous assaults, as described in Gp. 
There was now, at the end of the winter, such discourage- 
ment that Karlsefni gave up further thought of permanent 
settlement and the expedition sailed back to Greenland. On 
the way up along the Labrador coast, in Markland, they 
found some Eskimos. They caught two Eskimo boys and 
brought them to Greenland. It appears that Bjarni Gri- 
molfsson did not, however, reach Greenland, but was driven 
over to Ireland, where the ship was lost. 

Summing up, it will be seen that there are at least two 
distinct chapters in the history of the Vinland voyages. The 
first, related chiefly in Grsinlendinga pattr^ tells of the acci- 
dental discovery of America, followed by exploring expedi- 
tions penetrating far to the south, probably as far as the coast 
of Massachusetts. The second chapter, related chiefly in the 
Saga of Eric the Red^ tells of a large expedition, fitted out for 
the purpose of settling in America, but which did not reach 
farther south than Newfoundland, and which failed in its 
main purpose, partly due to attacks by the natives, partly 
owing to internal strife. It is possible that a third, unrecorded 
chapter exists, which would tell of occasional expeditions to 
the coasts of Labrador for the purpose of obtaining timber 
and for trading with the natives, \a ith whom perhaps an in- 
timate intercourse took place. The fact that such intercourse 
was prohibited by the Church may account for the suppres- 
sion of the reports of these expeditions. Finally, a fourth and 



c 






weH 



-^'2'/'* 



^'fci. 



'^'^,. 



>> 



r:!/. 



f'^>' 



'^i^. 



/j;' 



/A>, 



::<• 



f-^. 



/^ 



-■■v^" 



^-4.,^ 






. I«le 



^Jy,, 



Of' 



s*-" 



THE NORSEMEN TO AMERICA 255 

unwritten chapter may exist, comprising the story of the 
ultimate fusion of the Norse colony with the Eskimos in 
Greenland and the migration of the resulting mixed tribes 
to the Arctic continent of America. It remains for future 
students of this problem to unveil the facts of the last two 
chapters. 



APPENDIX & BIBLIOGRAPHY 



APPENDIX 

KNATTLEIKR AND LACROSSE 

The Norsemen were very fond of athletics in the widest sense of this word, 
and ball games were among their favorite pastimes. The most popu- 
lar game was " knattleikr," to which we find numerous references in the 
sagas. In Iceland this game seems to have been played from the time of 
the settlement of the country, and was no doubt brought there from Nor- 
way, where many geographical names bear witness to the antiquity of 
ball g^mes. 

Professor EbbeHertzberg has written an essay on the " Old Ball Games 
of the Norsemen," * in which he compares knattleikr with the game of 
lacrosse, which has come to us through the Canadian Indians. This com- 
parison he thinks establishes a strong resemblance, almost an identity, 
between the main features of the two games. Hertzberg concludes as prob- 
able that there must exist a close, historic relation between them, or, to 
speak more plainly, that an importation of knattleikr must have taken 
place from the Norsemen to the Indian tribes of the northeastern coasts of 
America, and from there farther inland. 

This view, however, has met with categorical opposition in a treatise 
by Magister Bjorn Bjarnason,t who maintains that there is no safe basis 
on which to establish a relationship between the two games, since they 
differ in essential features. 

The difficulty in deciding the question is due to the fact that, although 
knattleikr is frequently mentioned in the Icelandic sagas, it is nowhere 
described in a connected and detailed manner. The rules can only be in- 
ferred with more or less uncertainty from the incidental mention of epi- 
sodes in the game. The conception of knattleikr formed by Hertzberg and 
Bjarnason, although in the case of both writers resulting from a careful 
study of the historic sources, differs in important points. In oixler to form 
an independent opinion, a comparison is here made of the description of 
knattleikr given by the two writers. The material is arranged in tabular 
form so as to bring out clearly the points of agreement and disagreement. 
The points on which the two writers agree are then used as a basis for 
a comparison with lacrosse, and the points of difference are discussed. 

* Historiske Skrifter tile gnede Prof . Dr. Ludwig Daae, Kristiania, 1904. 
t JVordboernes Legemlige Uddannelse i Oldtiden, Copenhagen, 1905. 



260 



APPENDIX 



DESCRIPTION OF KNATTLEIKR 

Points of Essential Agreement 



HERTZBERG 



BJARNASON 



1 . The playground was flat and of 1 . The playground was preferably 



considerable extent ; in Iceland it 
was generally on the ice, but some- 
times in a field. Goals, or at least 
boundaries, were marked off. 



2. There were two teams opposed 
to each other. 

3. At least on certain occasions a 
referee {fyrirmadr) was selected. It 
was his duty to see that the rules 
of the game were observed, and to 
decide all points of dispute. 



4 . Every player was matched against 
a certain player of the other side, 
of as nearly equal strength and 
agility as possible. The players so 
matched were special opponents 
during the whole game. This divi- 
sion in pairs of opponents of nearly 
equal strength (skipta jafnliga) 
was, indeed, the main principle on 
which the whole game rested, and 
which gave to it its peculiar saga- like 
character. In the contest between 
any player and his special oppo- 
nent, in order to keep or to get the 
ball, none of the other players had 
a right to interfere. 



on a frozen lake or fiord ; it should 
be even and hard, conditions which 
were nowhere better satisfied than 
on the ice. When no ice was found, 
the play took place on a field . Bound- 
aries or goals were marked off. 

2. There were two teams opposed 
to each other. 

3. A referee was selected, who 
should supervise the game, prevent 
violence, etc. It was his duty to de- 
teraiine the boundaries of the play- 
ground, to divide the players into 
teams, and to match the individual 
players of the two teams against 
each other. 

4. The game was carried on in 
pairs. It was essential that the play- 
ers of each pair should not be too 
unequal in strength and agility. 
The players so matched were spe- 
cial opponents during the whole 
game. Thus the game was a rather 
simple contest of strength between 
two men, which was not interfered 
with by others. 



APPENDIX 



261 



5. The object of the game was to 
carry the ball across the boundary 
or through the goal of the oppo- 
nent (bera ut knottinn). After the 
ball was put in play, the players 
tried to catch it, and then to carry 
or throw it through the goal, but 
in this each player was hindered by 
his special opponent. 

6 . Knattleikr was played with great 
violence. It often led to lasting ani- 
mosities and, directly or indirectly, 
to manslaughter. The game was es- 
sentially a test of strength. The bat 
or racket was often used as a weapon 
with which to strike an opponent. 



5. The game was won when one 
side succeeded in getting the ball 
through the opponent's goal. If the 
ball went beyond one of the bound- 
aries (goals) , the loser had to fetch 
it. 



6. The result depended chiefly on 
strength. Hard throwing of the ball 
and fast running were required. 
Wrestling was a prominent feature 
of the game. It was the immediate 
object of the players, by pushing, 
tackling, and other direct means, 
to keep their opponents away from 
the ball. The bat was often used in 
anger to strike an opponent, and 
even the ball at times served as a 
missile. The game, in fact, often be- 
came extremely violent ; serious ac- 
cidents, and even loss of life, were 
not infrequent occurrences. 



Points of Partial or Doubtful Agreement 

HERTZBERG BJARNASON 

7. The two players of each pair 
were placed quite close to each 
other. Both teams together filled 
the field and were scattered in pairs 
over it. 



7. The players of the two teams 
stood on opposite sides of the field ; 
all who belonged to the same team 
stood on the same side. There must 
have been a good distance between 
the different pairs of players. Player 
A, who had the ball, placed him- 
self at one of the goals ; his opponent 
B stood facing him inside the op- 
posite boundary but at a great dis- 
tance from it, so that there would 



262 



APPENDIX 



be a chance for a race for the ball 
between the two players, in case B 
did not succeed in catching it. Rel- 
atively, then, the two players of a 
pair must have stood rather close 
together. 



Points of Disagreement 



HERTZBERG 

8. There was but one ball for all 
the players. The ball was rather 
heavy, probably of wood. 



BJARNASON 

8. Each pair of players had one 
ball in common. The balls were 
hard, probably of solid wood, and 
not more than three inches in diam- 
eter. 



9 . Each of the players had his bat 
or racket (crosse) , which was suit- 
able both for hitting and perhaps 
for catching and carrying the ball. 
It was, therefore, broad-leaved and 
scoop-shaped, and perhaps, in case 
of one type, provided with net- 
work. It was of light construction. 



9 . Each pair of players had one bat 
in common, the possession of which 
alternated between them. The bat 
was used both for driving and re- 
ceiving the ball. Probably it was 
somewhat heavier at one end, to 
give it more force when striking the 
ball. 



1 0. In the contest between a player 
and his special opponent none of the 
other players had a right to inter- 
fere directly. Probably, however, a 
player might, if he found it expe- 
dient, pass the ball over to another 
of his team-mates, who would then 
in his turn be obstructed and pre- 
vented from getting hold of it by 
his special opponent. When a player 
was trying to carry the ball out, 
he would be followed both by the 
opponent and his team-mates and 
by his own team-mates, who were 



10. No combined play or team- 
work whatever took place; it was 
entirely a two-men's game. The 
game between any two players did 
not end till one of them got tlie ball 
through the goal. Never vras a third 
man seen to take possession of the 
ball when it dropped from or was 
thrown away by one of two wrest- 
ling opponents ; it lay untouched 
until one of the players had fallen 
and the other ran up to it in oixler 
to drive it out. Thus the game came 
to resemble a fight between two 



APPENDIX 



263 



always ready to take the ball, if he 
should be forced to let it go. 

In exceptional cases two players 
were matched against one of supe- 
rior strength. 



1 1 . The ball might be : 

a. Caught with the hand. 

b. Caught with the bat (crosse), 



c. Thrown by the bat. 

d. Carried by the bat (crosse) , with 
the intention of taking it thus 
through the goal. 

The actions {b) and {d) require 
the bat to be scoop-shaped, or pro- 
vided with a net, for holding the 
ball, in other words, somewhat like 
the modem crosse. 



armies, where each soldier had his 
special opponent. That side which 
had the greatest number of win- 
ners was the victor. As in a battle, 
where a man after having con- 
quered one enemy may attack an- 
other, so, also, in this game, one 
player might, at times, take the 
place of another of the same side, 
against a particularly strong oppo- 
nent. It is not certain that all pairs 
played at the same time. Possibly, 
when there was a great number of 
players, they proceeded as in wrest- 
ling matches, where one or a few 
went forth at a time from each side, 
while the others remained as spec- 
tators during the fight. In excep- 
tional cases two or more players 
might be matched against one of 
superior strength. Sometimes two 
were matched against two. 

1 1 . The ball might be : 

a. Caught with the hand. 

b. Struck and received by the bat 
when in the air (but not when on 
the ground). 

c. Thrown by hand. 

d. Driven along the ground, prob- 
ably by kicking it. 



Attention is here drawn to certain implements found with the Storhaugen 
ship at Karmoen in Norway, dating from the tenth century. To judge from 



264 APPENDIX 

the description, published in Bergen's Museums Jiarsbereinmg, 1887, by 
A. Lorange, some of these implements may possibly be bats for use in 
ball gp.mes. 

We may now consider the points of essential or partial agreement which 
alone can be used as a basis for comparison with any other game. 

That the playground was flat and hard, that there were two opposing 
teams, a referee, and goals or boundaries, through which, or across Avhich, 
the ball was to be carried, are features common to practically all ball 
games, including lacrosse, and are, therefore, of minor importance. The 
only points of agreement that can be said to be distinctive of knattleikr 
are: 

Point 4 : That every player of one team was matched against a certain 
player of the same strength on tiie other team. That the players so matched 
were the special opponents of each otiier, with whose contest no other 
player had a right to interfere. 

Point 7 : That the two players of each pair of opponents were placed 
close together. 

These features are so typical and rare that one may consider seriously 
the possibility of a connection between games in which they are found. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE MODERN LACROSSE 
In lacrosse we find all the players, excepting the goal-keeper, stationed 
in pairs of opponents all around the field, one member of each pair with 
the special duty of defending his own goal, the other with the duty of 
attacking his opponents' goal. Each pair of opponents, who are always 
trying to "check" each other, are both selected with due regard to the 
special duties of the post, and although one may be more specially adapted 
for attack, the other for defence, in this highly refined modern game, still 







Modern Lacrosse Stick 

they must, speaking broadly, possess nearly the same qualities of sti'engtii, 
dexterity in handling the crosse, rapidity of action, etc. We shall now give 
a brief abstmct of the rules of American lacrosse, with some remarks. 

The crosse may be of any length to suit the player, but shall not ex- 
ceed one foot in width. It is woven with catgut in such a way that it is 



APPENDIX 265 

possible to carry the ball in tlie crosse, as well as to throw it and to catch 
it. The usual length of the stick is about four feet. 

There is but one ball, which is of india-rubber sponge, about two and 
one-half inches in diameter. 

Each goal consists of two poles six feet apart, and six feet high from 
the ground, joined by a rigid cross bar. The goals are from one hun- 
dred and ten to one hundred and twenty-five yards apart. The goal crease 
is a marked rectangle eighteen by twelve feet, in the middle of which the 
goal is placed. Each of tlie two teams consists of twelve players, desig- 
nated according to their functions and positions on the field: "Goal- 
Keeper," who defends the goal ; " Point," firet man from goal; " Cover 
Point," in front of point; "First, Second, and Third Defence;" 
"Centre; " "Third, Second, and First Attack;" and the players near- 
est the opponent's goal, who are called "Outside Home" and "Inside 
Home." 

Each team has a Field Captain, who may or may not be a player in the 
match. The Field Captains define the bounds of the playing field ; they are 
the representatives of their respective teams in all disputes and have various 
other duties. 

In general the Referee must not be a member of either of the contend- 
ing clubs ; he controls the game and decides all disputed points, or mat- 
ters of appeal, that may arise during the match, and his decision is final. 

There are two Umpires, one at each goal. They are, like the Referee, 
disinterested parties, and their duty is to decide whether or not the ball has 
passed through the goal, when a score is claimed. The Umpires cannot be 
removed except by order of the Referee. 

The game is started in the centre of the field by the Referee placing the 
ball between and touching the reverse surfaces of the crosses of the players 
"facing," and when both sides are ready the Referee calls " play." This 
process of starting the ball is called "facing," and is performed by the 
Centres. 

A ' ' goal ' ' is made by putting the ball through the goal from the front 
side. 

A match consists of two thirty-five minute halves, with an intermis- 
sion of ten minutes between the halves, and the side scoring the greater 
number of goals is declared the winner. 

A player is not allowed to hold an opponent's crosse with his hands, 
arms, or between his legs ; nor to hold, strike, or trip him with his crosse 



266 



APPENDIX 



or in any other way. It is not allowable to touch the ball with the hands, 
except under certain specified conditions. 

No player except the goal-keeper is allowed to stand within the goal 







P A 






s 


C 


Y Z 


T 


L 














Goal 








S—L = Any width. 
JS— I = 125 yards. 
P— A = 18 feet. 
P— N = 12feet. 
C— N = 6feet. 
C-Y=6 feet. 
Y— Z= 6 feet. 
Circle=12 ft. diam- 
eter. 


N G 
In Home O X Point 

Out Home O X Ccrver Point 

1st Attack O X 1st Defence 

2d jittack O X 2d Defence 






3d Attack O X 3d Defence 






3 


/ X \ Centre 




>> 


\ 1 e. T7o^+ TJo^;„c 




c 
< 


! Centre \o J 








3d Defence O X3d Attack 








2d Defence O X2d Attack 








1st Defence O X 1st Attack 








Caver Point O X Out Home 




1 


\ 


Point O X In Home 






I 


Goal 

..<^...o--.<i>-- 






I 








D 



18 feet 



Diagram of Lacrosse Field. American Lacrosse Joules 



APPENDIX 267 

crease, and no player shall check the goal-keeper while the latter is within 
the bounds of the goal crease. 

No player is allowed to interfere in any way with another player who 
is in pursuit of an opponent. This rule accords well with point 4 of 
knattleikr. 

It is not allowable to check an opponent's crosse, or to attempt to knock 
the same out of his hands in any way, unless both players are contending 
for the ball. 

No player must deliberately strike another with his crosse or otherwise. 

Comparing this game with knattleikr, it will be seen that the chief char- 
acteristics (points 4 and 7) known to have been found in the latter with 
tolerable certainty are actually found in lacrosse ; only it appears that the 
players in lacrosse are more restricted to a certain part of the field, or to 
a certain function or duty, than to a certain opponent. 

In lacrosse a player is not limited to checking his special opponent. 
An attacking player will try to break away from his " checker," while 
a player on the defence will generally keep his position, but may check 
any of the other opponents that has broken away. Thus players of dif- 
ferent pairs may come into direct conflict with one another. We find here 
essential agreement with Hertzberg's conception of knattleikr (point 1 0) , 
while Bjarnason does not admit that any kind of team-work took place 
in the Icelandic game. 

In lacrosse there is only one ball, and each player is provided with a stick 
(crosse) , in which respects, again, we find agreement with knattleikr ac- 
cording to Hertzberg, but not accoixling to Bjarnason (points 8 and 9) . 

Bjarnason maintains that each pair of playere in knattleikr was pro- 
vided with a ball ; if there were several pairs of players, there would be 
several balls. But it appears that such an arrangement would inevitably 
lead to confusion, the balls would fly round among the different pairs, 
who, according to Bjarnason, had nothing whatever to do with one an- 
other, and who would thus get in one another's way. The assumption of 
Hertzberg that there was only one ball, however great the number of 
players, seems far more probable, and is supported by the fact that in 
the sagas the ball is always spoken of in the singular. 

In order to establish a connection, or the probability of a connection, 
between knattleikr and lacrosse, it is necessary, however, to go one step 
farther than has been done by Professor Hertzberg. If the points of sim- 



268 APPENDIX 

ilarity found to exist between the two games are due to a real relation- 
ship, and are not accidental, the same features must be found in the old 
Indian games from which lacrosse is known to have been derived. Hertz- 
berg has taken for granted, without giving any proof of this point, that 
lacrosse is identical in its characteristics with the Indian games, but this 
is hardly permissible before it is confirmed by a careful study of the lat- 
ter. If the assumption is found invalid, the chain of connection between 
knattleikr and lacrosse is broken. It seems, in fact, quite conceivable that 
modern lacrosse may have developed independently certain features which 
were not found in the Indian games, but which happened to be found in 
the old Noi'se game. Such points of resemblance may be explained by 
a like desire having existed in both cases to secure a good and rational 
game. 

Hence it is necessary to study the Indian games, to compare them with 
knattleikr and lacrosse, and in particular to show that the Indian games 
actually comprise the essential features common to both, in which case 
alone they can be supposed to form the connecting link between the two. 

LACROSSE AS PLAYED BY THE INDIANS 

The most complete treatise on Indian ball games is found in the work 
of Mr. Stewart Culin, "Games of the North American Indians,"* which 
gives a very comprehensive and complete resume of all that has come to 
light on this subject. In the opinion of some,t lacrosse is but a modifi- 
cation of the "soule" of the Ardennes mountaineere in France, brought 
to Canada by the first French colonists. Eugene BeauvoisI believes that 
the game was brought there by the early settlers from Normandy. Culin, 
who is probably better able to judge about this question than any one else, 
maintains, however, that, although the Indian game of racket or lacrosse 
may have been modified in historic times, it remains an aboriginal in- 
vention. 

A study of Culin's work reveals the following facts: 
A ball game, similar to the Canadian lacrosse, referred to by Culin 
as "racket," is played by Indians over a great part of tlie continent. It 
is, however, according to Culin, confined to the Algonkian and Iroquoian 

* Twenty-fourth Annual Re/iort of the Bureau of Ethnology, Washington, 

1902-03. 

t See Sylva Capin, Dictionnaire Canadien-Franqais, Boston, 1894. 

I Journal de la Societe des Americanistes de Paris, 1905. 



APPENDIX 269 

tribes of the Atlantic seaboard and the region of the Great Lakes ; and 
to their neighbors, the Dakotas, on the west, and the Muskhogean tribes 
of the South. It occurs again ajnong the Chinook and the Sahsh in the 
northwest, and in a limited area in California. It is not recorded in the 
southwest. 

The game may be divided into two principal classes : &'st, those in 
which a single racket or bat is used ; second, those in which two rackets 
are employed by each player. The latter is peculiar to the southern tribes, 
among whom the single racket is not recorded. We shall here describe 
only the game as played by the northern and in particular the northeast- 
ern tribes, where each player used a single racket (crosse) . 

The games were played on a flat, open field or prairie. Goals were 
erected at the extremities of the field, generally consisting of two sets of 
posts or poles, between which the ball had to be driven. The goals were 
a good distance apart, sometimes as much as one-third of a mile, depend- 
ing on the number of players. The game was generally played with some 
kind of racket, the most common form being that indicated on the accom- 
panying sketch ; consisting of a stick about three feet long, shaved thinner at 




Stick used by the Menominee Indians^ Wisconsin. Bur. Ethn.., X.IV 

W. J. Hoffman 

one end, and bent into a hoop or ring at least some four inches in diameter. 
Across this hoop a network of four or five thongs was formed. This net- 
work was not drawn taut, but formed a netted pocket, in which the ball 
might rest when caught, and in which it might be carried while the player 
was running along the field, permitting, however, the player to throw the 
ball, by means of the racket, to a very great distance. The construction of 
the racket varied somewhat in different sections of the country. The ball 
was generally not more than three inches in diameter, but hard and heavy, 
made of thongs of buckskin or leather stuffed with hair; sometimes, how- 
ever, it was of wood. 

The number of players taking part in a game varied from twelve to 
sixteen with some tribes, to several hundred in other tribes ; generally 
the number was very great. Often some old men were selected as judges 



270 APPENDIX 

or managers, who had to see that the rules were obeyed. Generally each 
party had a leader or captain, who selected the players of the respective 
teams. 

The ball games were favorite opportunities for betting, especially 
among the women. 

The game was often extremely violent, and serious accidents were com- 
mon. In the ancient form of the game the players were permitted to trip, 
throw, hold, and to run at full speed against any antagonist, resulting 
in rough and fierce physical contests. Still, as observed repeatedly by the 
various writers on this subject, it was seldom that any ill-feeling was 
exhibited, and the games seldom led to quarrels of any kind. 

We shall now give a few extracts from some of the best descriptions of 
the Indian ball games as played by the northern tribes, exhibiting various 
particulars which may or may not have been general among other tribes. 
Those descriptions are specially selected which contain features character- 
istic of knattleikr. 

The extracts are practically literal, and only such passages are omitted 
as have no bearing on the present discussion, or have already been in- 
cluded in the introductory remarks. 

"iROqUOIS GAME OF LACROSSE"* 

The present Canadian Iroquois, like the New York Iroquois, have lost 
most of their customs and usages, and much even of what remains is 
warped and disfigured by contact with transatlantic manners and cast of 
thought. 

The modern lacrosse, as played by the so-called teams, is an adapta- 
tion of the ancient, perhaps proethnic, mode of playing the game by the 
Iroquois and northern tribes generally. In its primitive form the game 
was played by two parties of paired players of equal numbers, who were 
provided with the netted ball clubs to be found in collections of Iroquois 
antiquities. 

The goals or butts for the ball game were marked by poles or stakes 
from ten to fifteen feet in length, two in number, driven in the ground 
from five to fifteen paces apart. The goals were placed from forty to 
eighty rods (two hundred to four hundred and fifty yards) apart, accord- 
ing to the number and skill of the players. 

In order to make a point in the game, it was necessary to tlirow or to 

* J. N. B. Hewitt, The American Anthrofiobgist, 1892, V, 189. 



APPENDIX 271 

carry the ball into the goal. The number of points required to win was 
not fixed, but at the beginning of every game a certain number was de- 
cided upon by the two parties ; three points out of five was the usual num- 
ber, but four out of seven, five out of nine, etc. , were sometimes adopted. 

Many accidents occurred, and sometimes a player was killed in the 
terrific struggles for possession of the ball, in which, occasionally, all the 
players joined in one rolling throng. 

The players to begin the game assembled on the ball ground at a point 
midway between the goals or butts. The two parties were then divided 
into couples, every player being paired with one of the opposite party, 
those paired being as nearly as possible of equal skill, agility, strength, 
and fleetness of foot. One of the players was placed immediately in front 
of the goal defended by his side, and another in front of the opposite 
goal. These two were called the door guards. It was their duty to guard 
the goals against an opposing player who might attempt to throw the 
ball through from a distance, or to carry the ball into the goal on his 
bat. These two were chosen rather for their skill and vigilance than for 
swiftness. 

It was considered a great feat for a player to take the ball on his bat, 
elude his pursuers and opponents, outplay the door guard, and thus carry 
the ball into the goal, especially if he was able to walk into the goal. 

The game was opened by the two captains holding their clubs crossed 
in the form of a maltese cross witli the ball placed midway between the 
ends of the network on each club ; then by a steady push each captain 
endeavored to throw the ball in the direction of the goal to which his 
side must bear it. 

The Iroquois prefer the ancient to the modem style of the game, for in 
the former they have a greater opportunity to exhibit their skill, strength, 
and fleetness of foot individually, whereas in the modernized form of the 
game there is more team-play. 

GAME OF THE SENECA TRIBE, NEW YORK* 

The Iroquois ball game played by this tribe, as described by Morgan, 
is similar to that described by Hewitt. A few additional remarks are of 
interest. 

The band of players was select, usually only from six to eight on each 
side. If a player became fatigued or disabled, he was allowed to leave 

* Lewis H. Morgan, Cramoisy Press, New York, 1859. 



272 APPENDIX 

the ranks, and his party supplied his place with a fresh player. One rule 
forbade the players to touch the ball with hand or foot. The contest be- 
tween the players was, which set would first carry the ball through its 
own goal a certain number of times. The players, after being divided 
into two companies, stationed themselves in two parallel rows, facing 
each other, midway on the line, between the goals, each one holding a 
racket, with which alone the ball was to be driven. As soon as all the 
preliminaries were adjusted, the ball was dropped between the two files 
of players, and taken between the rackets of the two who stood in the 
middle of each file, opposite each other. After a brief struggle between 
them, in which each player endeavored, with his racket, to get pos- 
session of the ball and give it the first impulse towards his own goal, 
it was throvni out, and then the pursuit commenced. The flying ball, 
when overtaken, was immediately surrounded by a group of players, each 
one striving to extricate it and at the same time direct it towards his 
party goal. In this way the ball was frequently imprisoned in different 
parts of the field, and an animated contest maintained for its possession. 
When freed, it was knocked upon the ground or through the air; but 
the moment a chance presented itself, it was taken up upon the network 
of the racket by a player in full career, and carried in a race towards the 
goal. To guard against this contingency, some players took up detached 
positions suitable for intercepting runners who had got possession of the 
ball. If such a runner found it impossible to elude his adversary, who 
came in before him on a diagonal line, he turned about, and threw the 
ball towards his goal, or, perhaps, towards a player of his o\vn party, if 




Stick used by the Seneca Indians^ Nexv York. Bur. Ethn.^ XIV 

^ Lewis H. Morgan 

there were adverse playere between him. and the goal. In ancient times 
they used a solid ball of knot. The bat also was made ^vithout network, 
having a solid and curving head. At a subsequent day they substituted 
a deerskin ball and the network bat or racket in present use. These sub- 
stitutions were made so many yeare ago that the date is lost. 



APPENDIX 273 

BALL GAME OF THE MENOMINEE INDIANS, WISCONSIN* 

When any one prepares for a game of ball, he selects the captains or 
leaders of the two sides who are to compete. Four innings are played. 
The racket, or "ball stick," is quite similar to that described above. 

When the ball is caught in the ball stick, the player, running along 
with it, carries the stick almost horizontal before him, moving it rapidly 
from side to side and at the same time turning the stick so as to keep tlie 
ball always in front and retained by the pocket. This constant swing- 
ing and twisting movement tends to prevent players of the opposing side 
from knocking the ball out, or dislodging it by hitting the stick. The 
game is like that of the Ojibwa of northern Minnesota, which has pre- 
viously t been described as follows : 

After selecting a level piece of ground, the goals are erected about one- 
third of a mile apart. These consist of two upright poles about twenty feet 
high. The best players of either side gather at the centre oftheground. The 
poorer playere arrange themselves around their respective goals, while the 
heaviest in weight scatter across the field between the starting-point and 
the goals. 

The ball is tossed into the air in the centre of the field. As soon as it 
descends it is caught with the ball stick by one of the players, when he 
immediately sets out at full speed towards the opposite goal. If too closely 
pureued, or if intercepted by an opponent, he throws the ball in the 
direction of one of his ovioi side, who takes up the race. 

The usual method of depriving a player of the ball is to strike the 
handle of the ball stick so as to dislodge the ball. Frequently the ball car- 
rier is disabled by being struck across the arm or leg, thus compelling 
his retirement. Severe injuries occur only when there is ill-feeling or when 
the stakes are very high. 

Should the ball carrier of one side reach the opposite goal, it is neces- 
sary for him to throw the ball so that it touches the post. This is always 
a difficult matter because the post is guarded by numerous playere. The 
ball may be intercepted and thrown back into tlie field. The game may 
come to a close at the end of any inning by mutual agreement of the play- 
ers, that side winning the greater number of scores being declared victor. 

*W. J. Hoffman, Fourteenth Annual Refiort of the Bureau of Ethnology, 
Washington, 1896. 

tW. J. Yio^m?ix\, Remarks on Ojibwa Ball Play, The American Anthropolo- 
gist, vol. iii, 1890, 



274 APPENDIX 

The game played by the Dakota Indians of theupper Missouri was prob- 
ably learned from the Ojibwa; the ball sticks are identical in construc- 
tion, and the game is played in the same manner. The goals sometimes 
consist of two heaps of blankets. 

The game of lacrosse originated without doubt among some one of the 
eastern Algonkian tribes, possibly in the valley of St. Lawrence River, 
and from there it was carried down among the Huron-Iroquois, and later 
on into the country of the more southern members of the Iroquoian lin- 
guistic stock, as the Cherokee, etc. Westward the game was taken by the 
various tribes of the Algonkian stock, and afterwards adopted by other 
tribes, until at this day there is evidence of its influence among many 
tribes of diveree stock. 

The ball game is closely connected vdth the religious ceremonies of the 
Indians, as explained by Dr. Hoffman under the heading, "Ceremonies 
of Mitawdt or Medicine Society." A full description is given of the myth- 
ical origin of the game, of which the following passage is of particular 
interest: "At one end of this clearing was a knoll, which was taken 
possession of by the bear chiefs, from which point they could watch the 
progress of the game. Then the Anamaqkiu placed themselves on one 
side of the ball ground, while the Thunderers took the other, each of 
the latter selecting a player from among their opponents, as the players 
always go by pairs." 

COMPARISON BETWEEN KNATTLEIKR AND LACROSSE 
AS PLAYED BY THE INDIANS 

In both games we find a flat playground, two goals or boundaries, two 
opposing teams, and referees. In both games the object was to carry the 
ball through a goal or across a boundary. Moreover, we find in the game 
of the Iroquois, as described by Hewitt, that every player was paired 
wdth one of the opposite party, those paired being, as nearly as possible, 
of equal strength, agility, etc., just as in knattleikr. In Hoffman's de- 
scription of the mythical origin of the game, this pairing of the playei's 
is again alluded to. This feature, indeed, is not kno^vn to have been men- 
tioned by other observers of the Indian game, but their descriptions are 
generally far less complete than that of Hewitt, and the pairing may have 
escaped their attention. 

The remark of Hewitt, that thelroquois prefer the ancient style of game, 
where they have greater opportunity for individual play, that is, less team- 



APPENDIX 275 

work, seems to indicate that formerly the paired players remained to a 
greater extent throughout the game, the special opponents of each other, 
as in knattleikr. It may thus be said that a fair correspondence is found 
to exist between the two games in respect to all those points of knattleikr 
(1-6) which are well established. 

It is not clear from the descriptions whether the players of each pair in 
the Indian game were placed close to each other, but as this characteris- 
tic feature is found in modern lacrosse, which is manifestly derived from 
the Indian game, we may suppose that it was found also in this latter. 

The fact that both the Indian and Icelandic games were played with 
great violence was a natural consequence of the temperament and the 
state of civilization of the two peoples, and does not imply any connection 
between the games. 

We shall now deal with those points in knattleikr about which opinions 
differ. 

If the assumption of Hertzberg is correct, that only one ball was used 
in knattleikr, we find also on this point correspondence with the Indian 
game. Hertzberg suggests that the Noreemen used a scoop-shaped bat 
or stick, suitable for carrying the ball, and that perhaps in some cases 
they used rackets or crosses somewhat like those used by the Indians. The 
evidence in favor of this theory is, however, incomplete, although the 
term knattgildra for the bat, used in one place in the sagas, points in this 
direction. Knattgildra means a contrivance with which to catch {gildra) 
the ball. This question does not, however, seem vital to Hertzberg' s 
arguments, since we may easily conceive the bat to have been gradually 
developed into a racket or crosse, as, indeed, is said by Morgan to have 
been the case among the Senecas. 

We have seen that in the Indian game a player, running with the ball, 
would in an emergency pass the ball to one of his team-mates. This cor- 
responds with knattleikr as explained by Hertzberg, while Bjarnason 
maintains that no such interaction between the different players of the 
same team took place, the game being strictly a two-men's game. 

It appeal's to us that Hertzberg's explanation is the more plausible. 
It seems unlikely that the game should have consisted of an incoherent 
aggregation of two-men's games, by which mutual disturbance and con- 
flict would seem unavoidable, leading ultimately to complete confusion. 
Cooperation, that is, team-work, must have existed to some extent. 

It seems natural to suppose that the game was originally a two-men's 



276 APPENDIX 

game, pure and simple, which gradually developed to greater complex- 
ity by drawing in more and more subsidiary or assistant players, arranged 
in pairs over the field; all cooperating to the common end, to get the 
ball through a goal or over a boundary, but never interfering directly 
with the individual contests which might take place between the players 
of any one pair. 

The Greenland Eskimos, when found by Hans Egede* in the firet 
half of the eighteenth century, played a ball game which possessed the 
chief characteristic of knattleikr, that the players of opposite parties were 
paired, and from the drawing, here reproduced, which accompanies 
Egede's description of the game, it is apparent that the two members of 
each pair were placed side by side ready to tackle each other. No bat was 
used by the Eskimos. Egede says : "The ball game is their favorite sport, 
especially by moonlight. . . . When they are divided into two sides, 
one player throws the ball to another of his own side. The players of the 
other side try to take the ball from them, and thus the game alternates 
between them." 

If this game is actually due to Noree influence, it shows at least that 
the Norsemen were not unwilling to have the natives learn and adopt 
their games. 

Summing up, it must be admitted that there are remarkable points of 
likeness between the Icelandic and the Indian games. The most charac- 
teristic feature of knattleikr, a pairing of opponents of equal strength, is 
known to have been found in the Iroquois game, and perhaps also in the 
game of certain other tribes. It seems probable that in the Indian game, 
as in knattleikr, the paired players were placed close together, and that 
they acted as the special opponents of each other throughout the game. 
Differences undoubtedly exist, notably in the implements used in the 
games, but it seems likely that the Indian game, if derived from knatt- 
leikr, would in course of time be changed and developed to suit the taste 
and temperament of the Indians and to confoiTn to the conditions under 
which it was played. On the whole, the evidence brought to light by a 
study of these games favors the theory that lacrosse came to the Indians 
through the Norsemen, but we find nothing in the sagas to show that such 
frequent and intimate intercourse, which this theory presupposes, took 
place between the two peoples. If, then, we are to accept this theory, we 
must admit, as suggested at the end of the foregoing discussion, that a 

* Det Gamle Gronlands J\fye Pelurstration, Copenhagen, 1741. 



APPENDIX 277 

blank chapter exists in the history of the Norse Greenland ers. The facts 
which have so far come to light concerning these games, although inter- 
esting and remarkable, stand isolated and unexplained, and must, there- 
fore, await further elucidation before we can assert that a connection exists 
between knattleikr and lacrosse. 



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Stockholm, 1889. 

Thalbitzer, William : A Phonetical Study of the Eskimo Language, Med- 
delelser om Gronland, XXXI, Cop., 1904. 

Thalbitzer, William : Skraelingernei Marklandog Gronland. Deres Sprog 
og Nationalitet, Videnskabernes Selskabs Forhandlinger , Cop . , 1905. 

ToRFiEus, Thormodus: Historia Vinlandise Antiqux, Cop., 1705. 

TowNSEND, Charles Wendell : Along the Labrador Coast, Boston, 1 907. 

TowNSEND, Charles Wendell: Captain Cartwright and his Labrador 
Journal, Boston, 1911. 

TuxEN, J. C. : 7?e Nordiske Langskibe, Aarboger for Nordisk Oldkyn- 
dighed og Historic, Cop., 1888. 

Unger, C. R. : Stjorn, Gammelnorsk Bibelhistorie, Krist., 1862. 

ViGFussoN, GuDBRAND, AND Cleasby, Richard : Icelandic- EngUsh Diction- 
ary, Oxford, 1874. 

ViGFussoN, GuDBRAND, AND PowELL, F. YoRK : Icelandic Prose Reader, 
Oxford, 1879. 

ViGFussoN, GuDBRAND, AND PowELL, F. YoRK : Origincs Islandicse, Ox- 
ford, 1905. 

Weinhold, Karl: Altnordisches Leben, Berlin, 1856. 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Abbot Nicolas of Thingeyri, 79, 

127. 
Acheron, 123. 
Adam of Bremen, 75, 115, 127, 

152. 
Aedaness, 38. 
Africa, 79, 117, 120,232. 
After-boat, The, 58. 
Alaska, 49, 50. 
Alexis River, 240. 
Algonquin family, 178. 
Algonquin tribes, 2 68, 274. 
Algonquins, 179. 
Alptafiord, 79, 102, 144. 
Ameralikfiord, 26. 
America, v, xviii, xx, 16, 35, 44, 
48, 50, 67, 68, 79, 119, 120, 
121, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128, 
131, 133, 134, 136, 139, 140, 
151, 152, 154, 156, 157, 162, 
164, 165, 176, 191, 221,223, 
232,236,245, 246,255, 259. 
America, Arctic, 165. 
America, North, 117, 154, 158, 

208. 
American Anthropologist, The, 

2 70 note, 273 note. 
American Arctic archipelago, 44. 
American Indians, 189. 
Americanist Congress, 114. 
Amitok Island, 202. 
Amour Point, 203. 
Anamaqkiu, 2 74. 
Anglo-Saxon kings, 2. 
Angmagsalik, 168. 
Annals of the Flatey Book, 113. 
Anse a Loup, 225. 



Anse a Loup Bay, 203. 
Antiquitates Americanae, xviii. 
Antiqvariske Annaler, 39 note. 
Archbishop of Bremen, 8. 
Archbishop of Bremen and Ham- 
burg, 75. 
Archbishop of Lund, 8. 
Archbishop of Nidaros, 9. 
Arctic archipelago, 49. 
Arctic Circle, 1, 117. 
Arctic continent, 25 5. 
Arctic Sea, 62. 
Ardennes mountaineere, 268. 
Arkiv for Nordisk Filologi, 227 
note. 

Arnamagnaean collection (AM), 
xxi, 63, 78, 99, 103, 104, 105, 
106, 108, 110, 112. 

Arnarbaeli, 74. 

Arne, Bishop, 138. 

Arnold, Benedict, 115, 

Asbi-andson, Bjorn, 79. 

Asia, 62. 

Asmund, 80. 

Asmund the Grey-haired, 80. 

Atlantic coasts of America, 177. 

Atlantic Ocean, 66, 134,205,213, 
220, 224, 236, 269. 

Avaldamon, 112. 

Avalldania, 112. 

Aval on peninsula, 181, 207. 

Baardson, Ivar, 41. 

Babcock, William H., 181, 242, 

243. 
Baffin, William, 202. 
Baffin Bay, 21, 38, 45, 65. 



290 



INDEX 



Baffin Land, 38, 45, 48, 49, 124, 
136, 160, 173, 175, 191, 192, 
193, 194, 199, 223, 229, 230, 
232, 246, 247. 

Baltic, 2, 5 6, 152. 

Bay of Exploits, 241. 

Bayof Fundy, 217, 218, 231. 

Bay of Islands, 211, 212. 

Beauvois, Eugene, 268. 

Bedford Basin, 215. 

Behring Strait, 177. 

Belle Isle, 203. 

Belle Isle, Strait of, 161, 176, 179, 
198, 200, 203, 204, 209, 212, 
238-239, 241, 252, 253. 

Beothuks, 181, 209. 

Bergen, 41, 67, 138. 

Bergen's Museums Aarsberetning, 
1887, 264. 

Bibliotheque Imperiale, 150. 

Big River, 15 5. 

Bird Island, 151. 

Bishop of Greenland, 113. 

Bishop Paul's Saga, 157. 

Bjarnason, Magister Bjorn, 259- 
263, 267, 275. 

Bjarney (Bear Island) [in Mark- 
land], 103. 

Bjarney or Bjarneyar (Bear Islands) 
[in Greenland], 38, 39, 68, 103, 
228, 230. 

Bjarni. See Grimolfsson, Bjarni, 
and Herjulfsson, Bjarni. 

Bjornbo, 62. 

Bjornbo, Dr. Axel Anthon, 116. 

Black Fly Island, 200. 

Blanc Sablon, 204, 22 5. 

Blanc Sablon Bay, 203. 

"Blond Eskimos," 49, 50. 



Boas, Dr. Franz, 45,48, 165, 174, 
175, 192. 

Boehmer, George H., 53 note. 

Boer, R. C, 80 note. 

Bonne Bay, 211, 212, 241, 253. 

Bonnycastle, Sir Richard H., 182, 
209. 

Bordeyri, 80. 

Borgarfiord, 1. 

Boston Bay, 219, 224. 

Brandan, Saint, 122, 12 3. 

Bras d'Or, 215. 

Brattahlid,26, 77, 78, 84, 88,92, 
100, 102. 

BreiSifiord, 25, 76. 

Bremen, 95. 

British America, 151 note, 214 
note. 

Brittany, 149. 

Brooks, C. T., 115 note. 

Bruun, Captain Daniel, 15, 27. 

Bugge, Professor Sophus, 114. 

Bureau of Ethnology, Sixth Report 
of the, 45 note ; Fourteenth An- 
nual Report of the, 273 note; 
Twenty-fourth Annual Report of 
the, 2 68 note. 

Burnt Njal,Saga of, 18, 19, 144. 

Buzzard's Bay, 219, 248. 

Cabot, John, 180, 197, 208. 
Cabot, Sebastian, 180. 
Cabot, William B., 180 note. 
Cabot Strait, 237, 242. 
California, 269. 
Cambridge, Mass. , 115. 
Canada, 2 68. 
Canada Bay, 2 11. 
Canaries, 119. 



INDEX 



291 



Cantino, Alberto, 181, 182. 

Cape Ann, 219. 

Cape Bauld, 205, 207, 210, 211, 

238, 241, 252. 
Cape Breton Island, 213, 215, 

223,236, 237, 242, 243. 
Cape Brewster, 62. 
Cape Canso, 213. 
Cape Chidley, 194, 196, 198. 
Cape Clear, 208. 
Cape Cod, 140, 219, 224, 226, 

228, 235, 236, 246, 247, 248. 
Cape Cod Bay, 219, 224, 226, 

248. 
Cape Desolation, 23, 26, 222. 
Cape Elizabeth, 218. 
Cape Farewell, 21,22,23,24,25, 

26, 67, 229. 
Cape George, 216. 
Cape Harrison, 239, 251, 252. 
Cape La Have, 214. 
Cape Langaness, 62. 
Cape Linzee, 216. 
Cape Norman, 211. 
Cape North, 216, 232. 
Cape Porcupine, 194, 199, 223, 

225, 239. 
Cape Race, 205, 207. 
Cape Ray, 207. 
Cape Reykjaness, 24. 
Cape Sable, 213, 214, 224, 226, 

247. 
Cape Sable Island, 214. 
Cape St. John, 207, 213. 
Cape Spear, 206. 
Cape Whittle, 204, 205. 
Capin, Sylva, 268 note. 
Carthaginians, 119. 
Cartier, Jacques, 149, 150, 151, 



177, 179, 184, 188, 197,204, 
208, 209, 217. 

Cartogi-aphia Groenlandica, 116. 
Cartwright, Captain, 161, 176, 

178, 179, 182, 183, 197, 239, 
240 ; and his Labrador Journal, 
182, 193. 

Cartwright Harbor, 2 00, 240, 251. 

' ' Ceremonies of Mitawit or Medi- 
cine Society," 274. 

Chaleur Bay, 150, 184, 217. ■ 

Charlemagne, 2. 

Charles River, 115. 

Chateau Bay, 161. 

Cherokees, 274. 

Chinook, 269. 

Clavus, Claudius, 41, 117, 118. 

Columbus, 124, 126, 136, 232, 
245. 

Copenhagen, 39, 78, 81. 

Cormack, 183. 

Coronation Gulf, 49. 

Crossness, 9 1 . 

Corte-Real, Gaspar, 181. 

Culin, Stewart, 268. 

Cumberland Sound, 45, 48, 192. 

Dakotas, 269, 274. 

Dan Cape, 62. 

Danes, 2, 75. 

Danish Greenland Committee, vii, 

27. 
Dasent, G. W., 18 note. 
Davis, John, 169. 
Davis Sti-ait, 22, 68, 124, 136, 

191, 192, 195, 228, 229, 246. 
Denmark, 54, 66, 157 note. 
Denmark, King of, 75, 134. 
Denys, Nicolas, 151. 



292 



INDEX 



Descriptio Insulariim Aquilonis, 75 . 
Description of Greenland, 170. 
Dictionnaire Canadien-Frangais, 

2 68, note. 
Dighton Writing-Rock, 115. 
Disko Bay, 22, 36, 37. 
Disko Island, 21, 39. 
Dublin, 113. 

XLarl Eric, 84, 130, 134. 

Eari Island, 251. 

Early Norse Visits to North Amer- 
ica, Smithsonian Miscellaneous 
Collection, 181 note, 243 note. 

East Pack, 229. 

Eastern Settlement, 21, 2 6, 27, 
30,31,38,42,65, 72,73,228, 
246. 

Edda, The, 1 1 . 

Egede, Hans, 170, 172, 173, 174, 
276. 

Egil's Saga, 121. 

Einarefiord, 26. 

Eirekr, 158. 

Eireks Saga RauSa, xxi, 99. 

Eisuness, 38. 

Elder Skalholt Annals, 114. 

England, 2, 3, 66, 121, 154, 155, 
156, 157. 

Eric the Red, 13, 25, 26, 29, 69, 
73, 76, n^ 78, 81, 84, 88, 91, 
96, 99, 100,101,102,103,1 12, 
149, 166,249, 250. 

Eric the Red, Saga of. Set Saga of 
Eric the Red. 

Ericsfiord, 26, 34, 76, 88, 91, 95, 
98, 100, 102, 139, 228, 249, 
250. 

Ericsson, Leif, xx, 65, 66, 68, 77 ^ 



78, 81, 84-89, 91, 92, 96, 99, 

100, 104, 130-138, 141, 145, 
147, 148, 156, 159, 162, 163, 
164, 223-228, 246-248, 250, 
251. 

Ericsson, Thorvald, xx, 68, 88- 
91, 98, 103, 111, 112, 123, 
131, 132, 139, 140, 142, 164, 
186, 187, 188, 223, 228, 235, 
248, 249, 251. 

Ericsson, Thoretein, 91, 92, 100, 

101, 102, 103, 131, 229, 249, 
250. 

Ericsvog, 25. 

Erik den Rodes Saga og Vinland, 
121 note, 129, 130, 141 note, 
147 note. 

Eskimo, The Central, 45, 165. 

Eskimo Bay, 205. 

Eskimo Language, The, 1 68 note, 
177 note. 

Eskimo River, 205. 

Eskimokulturens Oprindelse, 175. 

Eskimos, 31, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 
47, 48, 49, 50, 72, 165, 166, 
167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 
173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 
179, 181, 186, 187, 188, 189, 
190, 192, 202,242,254,255, 
276. 

Eskimos, Greenland, 177, 276; 
Labrador, 177, 202; Macken- 
zie, 177. 

Eskimos of Baffin Land and Hud- 
son Bay, The, 1 75. 

Estridson, Svend, 7b. 

Europe, v, 2, 4, 10, 12, 23, 32, 
62, 120, 155, 156, 157, 169, 
214. [183,215. 

Europeans, 169, 176, 177, 182, 



INDEX 



293 



Eyjafjallajokul, 1. 

Eyrar, 62,82. 

Eyrarbakki, 62. 

Eyrbyggja, 79, 144. 

Eyrbyggja Saga, 79, 127, 131, 

135, 143, 144. 
Eystrahorn, 61. 

Fagrabreivka, 80. 
Faroes (Islands), 3, 4, 5, 67, 246. 
Faxafiord, 69. 

Fernald, Professor M. L., 154, 
155, 156, 157, 160, 161, 162. 
Finding of Wineland the Good, 80 

note. 
Finnbogi, 96,97. 
Flatey Book (FB) , xviii, xix, xxi, 
68, 80,81, 84, 102, 113, 119, 
128, 129-146,228,245. 
Flateyjarbok, 81 note, 84 note, 

129 note. 
Floamanna Saga, 69, 167. 
Flom, Professor G. T., 116. 
Flushing, 45. 
Fogo Islands, 207, 213. 
Forteau Bay, 203, 225. 
Forteau Point, 203. 
Four Peaks, 194, 230. 
Fox Channel, 192. 
France, 2, 3, 268. 
Frederikshaab, 21. 
French, 161, 184. 
"French Shore," 207. 
Freydis, 96-99, 103, 109, 110, 
131, 132, 139-142, 144, 145, 
237, 250. 
Frisia, 2 . 
Frobisher, 41, 173, 174, 175, 192, 

193. 



Frobisher Bay, 173, 192. 

Erode, Ari, 10, 25, 76, 127, 128, 

152, 166. 
Funk Islands, 209. 
Furdustmnds, 104, 106, 231,232, 

233, 234, 238, 239, 241, 242. 

Gabarus Bay, 215. 

"Games of the North American 
Indians," 268. [250. 

Gamlason,ThorhaIl, 80, 102, 103, 

Gamle Gronlands Nye Pelurstra- 
tion, Det, 276 note. 

Gamli, 80. 

Gander Bay, 241. 

GarSar, 26, 31, 38, 79,96. 

Garde, v., 229 note. 

Garden of Newfoundland, 212. 

Geelmuyden, H.,227. 

Gellisson, Thorkel, 76, 17. 

Geografisk Tidsskrift, 1 5 note. 

George Island, 211. 

Germany, 3. 

Ginnungagap, 232. 

Gizur, T7 . 

GjoU, 123. 

Gnupsson, Bishop Eric, 113, 127. 

Godthaab, 21,26,42. 

GokstadShip, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 
56, 57, 159. 

Gosling,W.G., 176,200. 

Grxnlendinga ]?attr (G]?), xviii, 
xix, XX, xxi, 65,84, 102, 113, 
122, 130, 131, 132, 134, 135, 
136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 142, 
143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 

I 150,152,156,158,159,162, 
187,188,189,190,222,223, 
236, 237, 250, 252, 254. 



294 



INDEX 



Gragas, The, 10, 227. 

Grand Manan, 217,218,243. 

Gi-ape Isle, 122. 

Great Ireland, 77^ 112. 

Great Lakes, 2 69. 

Greely, A. W.,49 note. 

Green Bay, 213. 

Greenland, xvi, xix, xx, 3, 8, 20 
50, 58, 59, 61, 62, 65, 66, 67 
68, 69, 72, 7'Z, 7&, 77, 7S, 79 
81, 82, 83, 84, 86, 87, 91, 92 
95, 96, 98, 99, 100, 102, 112 
113, 114, 116, 117, 118, 120 
121, 124-127, 130, 131, 133 
134, 136, 138, 139, 141, 149 
153, 158, 160, 166, 167, 168 
169, 170, 172, 173, 176, 177 
186, 188, 191, 192, 198, 202 
213, 222, 226, 227-232, 234 
235, 242, 245, 246-247, 249- 
252, 254, 255. 

Greenland Annals of Bjorn Jons- 
son, 36, 37, 38, 231 note. 

Greenland Knorr, 4 1 . 

Greenland Sea, 68, 82, 230. 

Greenlandei-s, 59,65,76,124,125, 
141, 149, 167, 169, 178, 232, 
277; Norse, 37, 50, 124, 175, 
277. 

Greipar, 36. 

Grenfell,Dr.,116, 193, 198,202. 

Grettir, 80. 

Grettir's Saga, 5, 80, 121, 127. 

Grettis Saga asmundai-sonar, 80 
note. 

Greypar, 37. 

Grimolfsson, Bjarni, 102, 103, 
106, 1 10, 112, 113, 250, 254. 

Grinnell glacier, 192, 222, 247. 

Gripla, 231. 



Gronlands Gamle Topograph! efter 
Kilderne, 28 note. 

Gronlands Historiske Mindesmaer- 
ker (GHM), xxi, 23 note, 39 
note, 41 note, 42 note, 44 note, 
69 note, 76-79 notes, 81 note, 
84 and note, 95 note, 99 note, 
113 note, 134 note, 138 note, 
157 note, 231 note. 

Gros Morne, 212. 

GuSmundsson, Valtyr, 13 note. 

Gudrid, 88, 91,92, 93, 94,95, 
100, 102, 1 10, 113, 132, 228, 
229. 

Gulf of St. Lawrence, 216,217. 

Gulf Stream, 1,206,214. 

Gunnar of Lithend, 18. 

Gunnbjorn, 25, 99. 

Gunnbjorn's Skerries, 25. 

Gunnerus, 15 7. 

Gut of Canso, 215, 216. 

ri^KJA, 104. 

HafgerSinga Drapa, 24, 82, 135. 

Haki, 104. 

Hakluyt, 173. 

Haldorson, Bjorn, 154. 

Halifax, 215, 227. 

Hall, James, 169. 

Hallgerda, 144. 

Halogaland, 73, 81. 

Hamilton Inlet, 163, 178, 194, 

199,200,222, 223,239,246, 

251. 
Hamilton River, 155, 199. 
Hai-ald Fairhair, 5. 
Hai-ald Haardi-aade, 162. [115. 
Hamld , King of the Norwegians ,76, 
Hare Bay, 210, 238, 242. 



INDEX 



295 



Haukadal, 80. 

Haukadalur, Dala Syssel, 13. 

Hauk's Book, 67, 99. 

Havamal, The, 1 7. 

Hayes, Captain, 209, 

Hebrides, 5, 82, 100, 135, 

Heimskringla, The, 1 1, 56, 78. 

Helga, 80, 

Helgi, 96, 

Helluland, 68, 79, 85, 103, 1 16, 

136, 195, 221, 223, 230-232, 

247, 251, 
Helsenore, 157 note, 
Herjulf, 24, 81, 82, 83, 134. 
Herjulfness, 82, 83, 100, 222, 
Herjulfsson, Bjarni, 68, 81-85, 

130-136, 146, 222, 223, 245, 

246, 247, 250, 
Hernar, 67 . 
Hertzberg, Professor Ebbe, 259- 

263, 267, 268, 275. 
Hetland, 67. [274. 

Hewitt, J. N. B., 270 note, 271, 
Hinchinbrook Bay, 200. 
Histoire de la Nouvelle France, 1 8 5 

note, 2 1 9 note. 
Histoire des Isles Antilles de 1' Ame- 

rique, 45 note. 
Historia Norwegiae, 65, 167. 
Historia Vinlandiae Antiquae, xviii 

note. 
HistoriskTidsskrift, 1 1 5 note, 1 2 1 

note, 141 note, 147 note, 231 

note. 
Historiske Skrifter tilegnede Prof. 

Dr. Ludwig Daae, 259 note. 
Hjalti, 77- 
Hjaltland, 5. 
Hlymrek, 77. 



Hlymreksfari, Hmfn, 77. 
HoflFman, W. J., 273 note, 274, 
Holm, Captain Gustav, 2 7. 
Holstensborg, 21,22,36,37, 124, 

172, 
Honen, Runic Stone, 114, 
Hop, 107, 110, 111, 123, 141, 

145, 148, 159, 189, 190, 234, 

235, 236-238, 241-243, 252, 

253, 
Horn, 61, 

Horsford, Miss Cornelia, 115, 
Horsford, Professor, 115, 
Hrutafiord, 80, 
Hudson Bay Company, 199, 
Hudson Strait, 192,193,195,196, 

199, 231, 233, 
Humber River, 212,253, 
Hunafiord, 236, 
Hunafloi, 232, 
Hunter, Thorhall, 68, 103, 105, 

106, 110, 126, 140, 141, 147, 

233, 234, 238, 239, 250, 252, 
Hvammsfiord, 25, 
Hvarf, 23,26, 67. 
Hvitramannaland, 77, 112, 

Iceland, xix, XX, 1-19,25, 26,28, 
29, 31, 33, 44, 59, 61, 62, 63, 
65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 72, 73, 74, 
75, 76, 77, 81, 82, 86,95, 99, 
102, 112, 113, 114, 117, 120, 
121, 124, 128, 131, 136, 143, 
147, 158, 160, 161,222, 223, 
227, 232, 235, 236, 245, 247, 
249, 250, 259. 

Icelander, xvi, xx, 1-19, 26, 63, 
64, 69, 77, 92, 96, 123, 152, 
160, 161. 



296 



INDEX 



Icelandic Annals, 42, 113, 12 7. 

Icelandic English Dictionary, 152 
note. 

Igaliko, 32, 42. 

Igalikofiord, 26. 

Igaliko Isthmus, 26. 

Igdlerfigsalik, 32. 

Illinois State Historical Society, 
1 1 6 note. 

In Nortliern Labrador. See North- 
ern Labrador, In. 

In Northern Mists. See Northern 
Mists, In. 

Indian Summer, 214. 

Indian Tickle, 207. 

Indians, 165, 176, 178, 180, 181, 
184, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 
215, 249, 253, 268, 275, 276, 

Indians, Algonquin, 178,179,268, 
274; Canadian, 259; Menomi- 
nee, 273; Micmac, 184, 185; 
Montaignais, 178, 179, 180; 
Muskhogean, 269; Ojibwa, 189; 
Red, 178, 179, 181, 182, 183, 
1 90, 209, 242, 252 ; Souriquois, 
184. 

Ingornachoix Bay, 211,212. 

Inuit or Innuits, 45, 47, 48, 176. 

Insula Deliciosa, 123. 

Insula Uvarum, 122. 

Insulse Fortunatae, 119, 120, 121, 
126. 

Inung, 47, 48. 

Ipswich Bay, 219. 

Ireland, 1, 2, 6, 12, 62, 73, 77, 
113, 119, 208, 234, 249, 250, 
254. 

Irish Sea, 112. 

Iroquoian tribes, 268. 



Iroquois, 1 79 ; Canadian, 270, 271 , 

2 74; New York, 270. 
Isidore, 117, 119. 
IsledeBrion, 149, 150, 151. 
Isle of Man, 5. 
Islendinga Book, 10,25, 76, 127, 

152, 166, 186. 
Isles des Oyseaux, 209. 
Isles of tlie Blest, 119, 120, 122. 
Isles of Shoals, 160. 
Italians, 181. 
Ivigtut, 26, 229. 

JAKOBSHAVN, 22. 

Jan May en, 62. 

Jeddore Harbor, 215. 

JeUc, Dr., 40. 

Johnson, Bjorn, 231 note. 

Jon, Bishop, 158. 

Jonsson, Professor Finnur, vii, 15, 

28, 99, 114, 121, 141, 142, 

147, 161. 
Journal de la Societe des American- 

istes de Paris, 1905, 268 note. 
Julianehaab Bay, 21, 23, 25, 26. 
Jutland, 2. 

IVAGSURSUK, 26. 

Kaisape, 42. 

Kakortok, 3 1 . 

Kaladlit, 42. 

Kalaleq, 167. 

Kalerajuek, 62. 

Kalm, Peter, 1 60 note. 

Kangiusak, 42. 

Karaleq, 167. 

Karlsbooths, 38, 39. 

Karlsefni, 38, 68, 80, 92-95, 96, 



INDEX 



297 



102-113, 122, 123, 131, 132, 
138-145, 148, 152, 159, 162, 
164, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 
228-243, 250-255. 

Karmoen, 263. [176. 

Kavdlunait or Kavlunait, 42, 43, 

Kayak, The, 170, 178. 

Keelness, 104. 

Kensington Runic Stone, 1 1 6 and 
note. 

Kimbavogr, 79. 

Kimbe, Thorleif, 79, 144. 

Kingiktoreuak, 39. 

King's Mirror, 12, 23,24, 117. 

Kirpon Island, 210. 

Kjalarness, 90, 104, 106, 110, 
141, 225, 226, 233-235, 238, 

239, 241, 242, 247, 248, 252. 
Kol, 71. 

Kommissionen for Ledelsen af Ge- 
ologiske og Geografiske Under- 
sogelser i Gronland, 2 7 note. 

Koneboat, The, 171, 177. 

Kristiania, 21, 15 7. 

Kristiania fiord, 5 1 . 

Kristni Saga, 78. 

Krogfiord, 36. 

Krogfiordsheath, 36, 37. 

Krossaness, 225, 226, 249. 

Labrador, 47,48, 1 16, 124, 125 
136, 152, 155, 160, 161, 163 
167, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180 
191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196 
197, 198, 199, 202, 203, 204 
206, 207, 208, 222, 223, 225 
229, 230, 232, 233, 237-239 

240, 242, 247, 252, 254. 
Labrador, 176 note, 193 note, 198 

note, 200 note. 



Labrador Current, 195, 206. 
Labrador Journal, 182. 
Labrador Spring, A, 179 note. 
Land of Flat Stones, 103. 
LandnamaBook,6, 10,24,61, 77 ^ 

127, 131. 
Langaness, 62. 

Langskibet fra Gokstad, 5 1 note. 
Lapland, 162. 
Laplander, 162. 
Le Petit Nord, 210. 
Leif. See Ericsson, Leif. 
Leif the Lucky, 77^ 78, 79, 8 1, 88, 

130, 138. 
Leifsbooths, 89, 92, 137, 139, 

224, 226, 227, 228, 249. 
Leifsson, Gunnlaugr, 77 . 
Lescarbot, Marc, 185,219. 
Liber de Situ Danise, 75. 
Limerick, 77. 
Linnaeus, 162. 

Long Island, 163, 220, 236. 
Long Pond, 220. 
Long Range Mountains, 207, 

211. 
"Long Serpent," 5 6. 
Lorange, A., 2 64. 
Lower Canada, 214. 
Lysufiord, 26, 38, 39, 92, 102, 

228. 

JVl 'Gregor, John, 151. 
Macrobius, 117. 
Magdalen Islands, 149, 151. 
Magnusen, Professor Finn, 39 

note. 
Main Brook, 211. 
Maine, 155, 160, 218, 219. 
Marblehead, 248. 



298 



INDEX 



Marblehead Neck, 226, 

Marcianus, 76. 

Maritime Provinces, The, 2 1 6 

note. 
Markland, 59, 79, 85, 103, 111, 

114, 116, 126, 127, 136, 221, 

223, 225, 226, 232, 233, 242, 

247, 251, 254. 
Mareson, Ari, 71 . 
Martha' s Vineyard ,219,224-226. 
Martin, Bishop, 202. 
Massachusetts, 219,220,243,254. 
Mealy Mountains, 200. 
Meddelelser om Gronland (MG) , 

vii, xxi, 27 note, 28 note, 32 

note, 116 note, 168 note, 177 

note. 
Mediterranean, 2 , 121. 
Melar, 80. 
Melville Bay, 25. 
Melville Peninsula, 191. 
Merigomish Harbor, 216, 
Mernoc, 123. 
Meta Incognita, 193. 
Michelant and Ramee, 1 50 note, 

2 1 7 note. 
Michelant, H., 149 note, 204 note. 
Micmac tribe, 215. 
Miliaqdjuin, 45. 
Minnesota, 116, 273. 
Missouri, 274. 
Monomoy Point, 219, 248. 
Moravian Brethren, 116,167,177, 

200. 
Moravian missions, 202. 
More, 62. 

Morgan , Lewis H . , 2 71 note, 2 75. 
Morocco, 119. 
Moses, Firet Book of, 15 3. 



Mount Desert, 233. 
Mount Desert Island, 219. 
Mount Hope Bay, 243. 
Mount Warwick, 174. 
Munch, P. A., 134, 135. 
Murray, Hugh, 214 note. 
Musquidoboit Inlet, 215. 
Musquidoboit River, 215. 
My Life with the Eskimo, 49 note. 

Nachwak, 194. 

Nahant, 22 6, 248. 

Nain, 201, 232, 251. 

Nansen, Dr. Fridtjof, v, xix, 43, 

44, 66, 1 19, 120, 121, 122, 

125, 126, 127, 149, 181. 
Nantasket, 2 19. 
Nantucket, 219. 
Nantucket Sound, 219, 224, 226, 

247. 
Narragansett Bay, 2 19, 226, 243. 
Narrows, 199, 21 1. 
Nascopee Indians, 178, 180. 
Natashkwan Point, 205. 
Natashkwan River, 205. 
National Geographical Magazine, 

49 note. 
National Library at Paris, 180. 
National Museum in Copenhagen, 

39. 
Natural History of the Coasts of 

North America, 15 1 note. 
Nauset Beach, 248. 
Nauset Harbor, 220. 
Navigatio Sancti Brandani, 122, 

123. 
Nefjolfsson, Thorarin, 62, 63. 
New Brunswick, 152, 184, 188, 

217, 219, 233, 243. 



INDEX 



299 



Newfoundland, 124, 125, 152, 
154, 155, 160, 163, 177, 178, 
180, 181, 182, 190, 191, 195, 
197, 198, 205, 207, 208, 212, 
222, 223, 225, 233, 236-238, 
241, 242, 246, 247, 254. 

Newfoundland and the Labrador 
Coast, 193. 

Newfoundland in 1842, 182 and 
note, 209 note. 

New Hampshire, 160, 219, 220, 

New Jereey, 220, 236. 

Newport, R. I., 115. 

New York, 220, 271, 2 72. 

New York Bay, 220, 226. 

Nicolaysen, N., 51 note. 

Nidaros, 8, 81. 

Nielsen, Professor Yngvar, 114, 
115. 

Nook, 42. 

Nord i Taakeheimen, 1 19 note. 

Nordboernes Legemlige Uddan- 
nelse i Oldtiden, 259 note. 

Nordfiord, 61. 

Nordlandsjsegter, 58. 

Nordmsend og Skr^elinger i Vin- 
land, 1 15 note. 

"Nordi-seta," 36, 37, 68, 133. 

Normandy, 15 7, 2 68. 

Noree Colony, 27, 41, 44, 168, 
170. 

Norsemen, v, vi, xvii, xviii, xix, 
XX, 4, 12, 16, 17, 28, 31, 35, 
36, 37, 39, 42, 43, 44, 51, 53, 
55, 61, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 93, 
108, 110, 111, 118, 119, 120, 
121, 122, 123, 125, 126, 127, 
128, 136, 137-144, 148, 152- 
154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 
160, 161, 162, 164, 167, 168, 



169, 172, 177, 186, 187, 188, 
189, 190, 191, 195, 197, 198, 
208, 209, 210, 212, 221, 224, 
225, 230, 234, 235, 240, 249, 
250, 252, 253, 259, 275,276. 

Norske Folks Historie, Det, 135 
note. 

North American continent, 154. 

North Atlantic, 124. 

North Sea, 2, 5 6. 

North Stromfiord, 36. 

Northern Labrador, In, 180 note. 

Northern Mists, In, v, 66 note, 

119, 122 note, 181 note. 
Northland boats, 58. 
Northumberland Strait, 216. 
Norway, 2, 5,6,7, 11, 12,29, 32 

41, 44, 51, 52, 54, 56, 58, 61 
62, 66, 67, 75, 81, 84, 92, 95 
96, 98, 100, 114, 117, 118 

120, 124, 128, 130, 131, 133 
134, 135, 137, 138, 147, 153 
158, 159, 162, 164, 167, 224 
235, 246, 247, 259, 263. 

Norwegians, xx, 4. 

Notes on the Coast of Labrador, 
178. 

Notes on the Plants of Wineland 
the Good, 154 note. 

Notre Dame Bay, 213, 2 52. 

Nouvelle France, La, 15 1. 

Nova Scotia, 115, 116, 137, 138, 
152, 155, 163, 184, 185, 191, 
213, 214, 215-217, 223, 224, 
233, 236, 237, 242, 243, 247. 

Nunarsuit, 2 6. 

Nydam boat, 5 3. 

Odd, Orvar, 230, 231 . 
Odd, Vignir, 231. 



300 



INDEX 



Oddson, Bishop Gisle, 44. 
Oddson, Endride, 39. 
Ojibwa Indians, 273, 274. 
"Old Ball Games of the Noree- 

men," 259. 
Olaf s Saga, 77. 
Olav, 43. 
Olave, 42. 

Old Noi-se Bible, 153. 
Old Norse Colony, xx, 27, 41. 
Old Stone Mill in the Town of 

Newport, The, 1 1 5 note. 
Orange Bay, 211. 
Orkneys, 5. 
Orrabeinsf6stri,Thorgils.»S'eeThor- 

gils. 
Orvar Odd's Saga, 230, 231. 
Osgood, 2 1 6 note. 
Outing, 199 note. 

Paris, 1 50. 
Parson's Sound, 212. 
Pasqualigo, Pietro, 181. 
Passamaquoddy Bay, 217, 218, 

243. 
Paul, Bishop, 158. 
Penobscot Bay, 155, 160. 
Petit Nord, Le, 238, 239, 241, 

242, 252, 253. 
Petit Val, Raphael du, 149, 150. 
Pflanzenwelt Norwegens, 162. 
Pharaoh, 153. 
Phoenicians, 119. 
Pinkerton, 173, 174. 
Pistolet Bay, 211. 
Pliny, 119, 155. 
Plymouth Harbor, 219. 
Prince Edward Island, 150, 217. 
Porcupine Strand , 199, 251. 



pordarson, Jon, 8 1 . 

]7orgilsson, Ari, 10. 

Port au Port, 211. 

Port Hood, 216. 

Portland Creek, ,212. 

Portsmouth, N. H., 160. 

Portugal, 181. 

Portuguese, 181. 

Prehistoric Naval Architecture of 

the North of Europe, 53 note. 
Provence, 150. 
Privatboligen paa Island i Sagati- 

den, 13 note. 
Provincetown, Mass., 235. 

C^AVDLUN AQS , 176. 

Quemivtung, 48. 

RAca;; Point, 219. 

Rafn, xviii. 

Ramee, A., 204 note. 

Rannveig, 80. 

Rask, Professor Rasmus, 39 and 

note. 
Reeves, A. M., 80 note, 160. 
Reise nach dem nordlichen Amer- 

ika, 1 60 note. 
Relation Originate, La, 150, 179, 

184. 
Relation Originale du Voyage de 

Jacques Cartier au Canada en 

15 34, 150 note, 204 note, 217 

note. 
Remarkable Strands, 104. 
Remarks on Ojibwa Ball Play, 273 

note. 
Resolution Island, 193, 222, 230, 

246, 247. 
Reykjaness, 1. 



INDEX 



301 



Reykjavik, 161. 
Reynisness, 113. 
Rhode Island, 115, 219, 220, 

243. 
Rhodom, 154 note. 
Ringerike, 114. 
Rink, Dr. Henry, 42, 48 note, 

174. 
Robinson, 178. 
Rochefort, Cesar de, 45. 
Rome, 44. 

Rowland, J.T., 198, 199 note. 
Royal Library of Copenhagen, 8 1 , 

1 1 8 note. 
Russia, 117. 
Rymbegla, 63. 

Sacx) River, 129. 

Saga, Bishop Paul's, 157. 

Saga of Earl Eric, 84. 

Saga of Eric the Red (ER), xix, 
XX, xxi, 25, 38, 68, 79, 80, 99, 
113, 118, 119, 120, 128, 129- 
146, 148, 152, 158, 159, 162, 
177 note, 186, 187, 188, 189, 
190, 222, 228, 232, 236, 237, 
242,250, 252, 254. 

Saga of Harald Haardraade, 162. 

Saga of Olaf the Saint, 62. 

Saga of Olaf Tryggvason, T7 ^ 84, 
129, 130, 131. 

Saga, Thorfinn Karlsefni's, xix. 

Sailing Directions, 191. 

St. Anne Bay, 216. 

St. Croix River, 218. 

St. George Bay, 211,212. 

St. John Island, 181. 

St. John River, 2 19. 

St. John's Bay, 207. 



St. John's Harbor, 213. 

St. Lawrence, Gulf of, 149, 155, 
160,205. 

St. Lawrence River, 274. 

St. Lewis Inlet, 200, 225. 

St. Lewis River, 200. 

St. Margaret Bay, 215. 

St. Mary's Bay, 217. 

St. Paul's Inlet, 212. 

Salish, 2 69. 

Sandefiord, 5 1. 

Sandwich Bay, 199,200,225,239, 
240, 251. 

Sandy Hook, 227. 

Saxonland, 95. 

Scandinavia, 4,127,154,156,157, 
158, 161. 

Scandinavians, 2, 3, 4, 50. 

Schofield, Professor William H., 
vii. 

Schoning, 134. 

Schoolcraft, H. R., 189. 

Schiibeler, 15 7, 160, 162. 

Scotch Islands, 124. 

Scotland, 2, 6, 66, 1 54, 155, 156, 
157. 

Scottisli Isles, 2, 3, 5, 6. 

Seneca tribe, 271, 272, 275. 

Shetland Isles, 5, 67, 246, 250. 

Sigvatsson, Eriing, 39. 

Skalholt, 158. 

Skard, 80. 

Skraelingland ,231. 

Ski-selings, 37, 38,41, 42,76, 79, 
90, 93, 94, 95, 108, 109, 110, 
111, 112, 141, 142, 143, 167, 
168, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 
225,234;Markland, 177,186. 

Sleitu-Helgi, 80. 



302 



INDEX 



Smithsonian Institution, 165 note, 

243 note. 
Smith Sound, 41,44, 168. 
Snaefell, 37. 
Snaefellsness, 25, 62. 
Snorrason, Thorbrand, 109, 142, 

143, 144. 
Snorrastadir, 15 8. 
Snorri, son of Karlsefni, 93, 94, 

111. 
Snorri, son of Thorbrand, 79 , 102, 

103, 106, 108, 110, 144, 146. 
Soderberg, Professor Sven, 147. 
Sodor, 5. 

Sop's Arm, 2 1 1 , 2 12, 241 , 2 52. 
Sop's Island, 211. 
Spain, 2, 2 17. 
Spaniards, 185. 
Spitzbergen, 117. 
Stad, 61. 
Starkad, 71. 
State of the Ice in the Arctic Seas, 

The, 229 note. 
Steensby, H. P., 175. 
Stefansson, SigurSr, 118,238. 
Stefansson, Dr. Vilhjahxiur, 49, 

50. 
Stjorn, 153. 
Stokkaness, 100. 
Storhaugen ship, 2 63. 
Storm, Dr. Gustav, xviii, xix, 99 

note, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 

135, 136-140, 143-146, 148, 

156, 160, 178, 188, 216 note, 

242, 243-245. 
"Story of Eric the Red," 81, 129, 

130. 
Strandir, 232. 
Straumey, 104, 233, 251. 



Straumfiord, 105, 110, 111, 114, 
140, 141, 145, 186, 233-235, 
237-239, 241-243, 251, 253. 

Stream Island, 104. 

Studies on the Vinland Voyages, 
129. 

Sturluson, Snorri, 5, 11, 78, 127, 
128. 

Stuttgart, 115. 

Styx, 123, 

Suder Isles, 5, 100. 

Svalbarbi, 62. 

Svarte, Thoi-stein, 92. 

Svartenhook, 36. 

Svensen, Emil, 231. 

Sverre, King, 158. 

Swart, Claudius Clausson. See 
Claudius Clavus. 

Sweden, 154. 

Sydsvenska Dagbladet Snallpos- 
ten, 147 note. 

1 ALE of the Greenlandere, xxi. 
Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, 

42 note, 48 note. 
Terra Repromissionis, 123. 
Thalbitzer, W., 167, 168, 177, 

187. 
Tliingvellir, 7. 
Thorarin, 71. 
Thorbjorn, 102. 
Thorbrand, 79. 
Thorbrandsson, Snorri, 102, 106, 

108, 250. 
Thord, Bishop, 138. 
Thordai-son, Bjarne, 39. 
Thorer, 88, 91, 132. 
Thorey, 69, 70, 71. 
Thorfinn, Earloftlie Orkneys, 77. 



INDEX 



303 



Thorfinn, son of Thorgils, 70, 71, 

72, 73, 74. 
Thorfinn Karlsefni's Saga. See 

Saga of Thorfinn Karlsefni. 
Thorgils, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74. 
Thorgunna, 100, 135. 
Thorir, 80. 
Thorkel, 80. 

Thorlaksson, Bishop Thordr, 118. 
Thorleif, 7 1 . 

Thorstein. See Ericsson ,Thoi"stein. 
Thorvald. See Ericsson, Thorvald. 
Thorvard, 97, 103, 250. 
Thule, 760. 

Thunderers, 2 74. [199 note. 

To Baffin Land in a Motor Boat, 
Torf^eus, xviii. 
"Tornit," 45, 47, 48. 
Townsend, Dr. C. W., 179, 182, 

193, 240 note. 
Tradarhok, 74. 
Trading-ships, 57. 
Trondhjem, 8, 81. 
Tryggvason, King Olaf, 77, 78, 

81, 100, 104, 130, 141. 
Tryggvason, Olaf, Saga of. See 

Saga of Olaf Tryggvason. 
Tyrker, Southman, 84,86,87,88, 

147, 148. 
Tunes, Nicolas, 45. 
Tuniq, 47. 
Tunugdliarfik, 26. 

Umiak, 171. 
Ungava District, 199. 
Unger, 8 1 note. 
Ungortok, 42. 
Upernivik, 39. 
Uvaege, 112. 



Vaigat, 21, 136. 

Valldidida, 112. 

Vendland, 78, 152, 163. 

Vesterviking, 5. 

Vethilldi, 112. 

Victoria Island, 49, 50. 

Videnskabernes Selskabs Forhand- 
Unger, 167 note, 178 note. 

Vifilson, Thorbjorn, 100. 

Vigfusson, Dr. Gudbrand, xviii, 
81 note, 152. 

Vineyard Sound, 219. 

Vinland, v, xv, xviii, xx, 58, 59, 
63, 65, 75-118, 119, 120, 121, 
126, 127, 133, 135, 137, 138, 
140-142, 144, 147-164, 156, 
158, 161, 162, 163, 164, 167, 
168, 186, 187, 188, 223-243, 
246,248,249. 

Vinland the Good, 78, 79, 84,102, 
130, 144, 152, 232. 

Vinland hit Go5a, 152. 

Vinland och Vinlandsfarderna, 
231 note. 

Vinlandia, 163. 

VinlenSingr, Thorhall Gamlason, 
80. 

Voyage de Jacques Cartier, 149 
note. 

Voyages, The English, 173, 174. 

Voyages and Travels, 173. 

W^ANDEL, Vice- Admiral C. F. , vii. 

West Pack, 195. 

Western Settlement, 21, 26, 27, 
30, 38, 39,41, 42, 65, 68, 92, 
102, 103, 228, 229, 251. 

Whitbourne, 183. 

White Bay, 210, 211, 241, 252. 



304 



INDEX 



Whitehaven, 215. 
White-men's Land, 112. 
Wilson, Sir Daniel, 116. 
Windcharts, 229 note. 
Wineland, xx,122,12o, 132,163. 
W^ineland the Good, Finding of, 

80 note, 163. 
Wisconsin, 2 69, 273. 



Woodland, 103, 233. 

Yarmouth, N. S., 115. 
Yarmouth Public Library, 116. 
Yarmouth Sound, 217. 
Yarmouth Stone, 116. 

Aeiner-Lassen, 157 note. 



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